GM Could Sue UNIFOR Over Super Bowl 2019 Ad

UNIFOR, Canada’s largest private sector union, and General Motors Canada appear headed for a courtroom showdown after the union aired two TV ads during Super Bowl LIII blasting GM for firing its Canadian employees in order to hire more employees in labor-cheap Mexico.

UNIFOR represents Canadian employees at GM’s car assembly plant at Oshawa, Ontario. Some 2,600 of UNIFOR's unionized workers at Oshawa will eventually lose their jobs as the carmaker implements a restructuring program that will eventually see the termination of 17,000 employees in Canada and the U.S.

GM plans to close the entire Oshawa factory by the end of this year. To avert this, UNIFOR is standing-up to GM with a publicity campaign aimed at changing the car maker’s mind.

The latest shot in this war to save jobs was UNIFOR's Super Bowl ad called, “GM leaves Canadians Out In the Cold.” This ad also appears on YouTube and on the union's Facebook page.

The ad aired only in Canada during the 2019 Super Bowl played Sunday. It slams GM for continuing to expand in Mexico while leaving Canadians "out in the cold."

The ad asserts that Canadians have been loyal to GM and now the company has "forgotten our generosity.” It pointed out that Canada provided C$10.8 billion, or C$300 per Canadian citizen, to help save GM from bankruptcy in 2010.

“We stand by the belief that if GM wants to sell here then it needs to build here, and we will not be intimidated from sharing that message with Canadians in this ad,” said UNIFOR President Jerry Dias.

GM on Sunday released a statement saying it respects the union's right to protest, but accused the Super Bowl ad of "misleading the Canadian public."

Dias will now have to contend with an impending lawsuit from GM for airing the ad. On Feb. 1, the company wrote to UNIFOR demanding the union “cease and desist from any further publication (in any form and media whatsoever) of the advertisement.” The union refused.

Sent by Gowling WLG, a Toronto law firm, the letter was addressed to Dias and copied to Canadian media firms. "You know this is untrue,” said the letter about the anti-GM allegations in the ad.

The letter is particularly displeased with the assertion of "greed" by GM, which continues to reject UNIFOR's proposals to save the Oshawa plant.

Dias said he’s done everything humane to get GM to listen to UNIFOR but he’s not backing down from a courtroom fight.

"They can bring all the lawyers they want. They're not going to win this in a courtroom," said Dias. "We are not going to fold and they can sue all they want."