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Workers walk outside a Stellantis assembly plant following a company's announcement saying it will pause production there, in Toluca, state of Mexico, Mexico April 4, 2025.
Hard Numbers: Trump tariffs hit US auto jobs, Canada’s Gujaratis step on to the political scene, US and Mexico brace for water battle, Hoekstra confirmed as US ambassador to Canada.
900: Stellantis, one of the world’s largest car manufacturers,has temporarily laid off 900 US workers at plants that supply parts for its Canadian and Mexican factories, where operations have been suspended for two weeks amid uncertainty about the nature and impact of Trump’s tariffs.
4: Within Canada’s large South Asian diaspora, people who trace their origins to the Punjab region have long enjoyed greater numbers and political representation than those who hail from the Indian state of Gujarat. But that could be starting to shift, as the April 28 election will see four Gujarati candidates on the ballot. In Calgary, Sunjiv Raval is running for office on the Liberal Party ticket, while Ashok Patel and Minesh Patel are running as Independents. In Brampton, Ontario, Jayesh Brahmbhatt is running with the People’s Party.
30: Things are always a bit fluid in US-Mexican relations, but the next big clash between the two countries could literally be over water. Under a 1944 treaty, Mexico is obligated to share the waters of the Rio Grande but has met only 30% of its obligations over the past five years. Mexico says this is due to drought, but a fight is brewing as the treaty is set to expire later this year.
60: By a vote of 60 to 37, the US Senate confirmed Pete Hoekstra as the new ambassador to Canada. The Dutch-born Hoekstra is a former congressman from Michigan and ambassador to the Netherlands. He assumes his new role at a tough time: His boss has launched a tariff war with his host country and threatened to make Canada “the 51st state.” Hoekstra said he will “work with the Canadian government” on trade and border security.
A United Auto Workers union member holds a sign outside Stellantis Sterling Heights Assembly Plant to mark the beginning of contract negotiations in Sterling Heights, Mich., in July.
US autoworkers drive a hard bargain
Unionized workers at America’s Big 3 automakers could be on strike as of Sept. 14. The 146,000 members of the United Auto Workers and their pugnacious president, Shawn Fain, are ready to rumble. For the first time, the UAW has not yet chosen a “target” company against which to strike but has threatened to walk off the jobs at all three at once.
What do they want?
The UAW is demanding a 46% pay raise, a 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay, and a restoration of traditional pensions. In response, Ford offered a 9% wage increase and one-time lump-sum payments, for a total raise of 15% over four years. Stellantis and GM have yet to file counterproposals, leading to the UAW recently filing charges of unfair labor practices against them.
What would a strike do to the US economy?
The auto biz makes up 3% of US GDP. A tripartite 10-day strike could cost workers and employers $5.6 billion. During a 40-day UAW strike in 2019, GM alone lost $3.6 billion. The union’s strike fund is estimated to last about three months, so this could be a long haul.
Canada’s 18,000 autoworkers and their union, UNIFOR, have also voted to strike on September 18, but will only target Ford. Analysts predict this could impact the Canadian supply chain and raise vehicle prices, further fueling inflation.
What are the political implications?
The strike puts US President Joe Biden between a rock and a hard place, just in time for a presidential election year. His focus on electrifying America’s vehicle fleet has sparked workers’ fears of wage and job cuts, as EVs require fewer and lower-skilled employees to produce.
The conflict is also playing out as part of a larger class war that is shaping politics around the globe. The Big 3 collectively posted income of $164 billion over the past decade and their CEOs earn multi millions annually. Fain has bitterly complained about one standard for the corporate class and another for ordinary workers. So far, he has refused to endorse Biden, but also said that the return of Republican Donald Trump would be “a disaster”.
What’s next?
Biden recently named a White House liaison to the union and the automakers. He claims a strike can be averted, but faced with the two sides so far apart, most industry watchers believe a strike is inevitable. As one Michigan analyst put it, “President Fain has declared war, and that usually means there’s going to be a battle, and that battle would be a strike.”