Unifor National President Jerry Dias is expected to announce today who the union will target first in contract talks.
Those talks will set the pattern for negotiations with the other two domestic automakers.
Negotiations have been underway for weeks at a downtown Toronto hotel, where Unifor Local 444 President Dino Chiodo says the mood has been positive.
"We remain cautiously optimistic," he says.
The Canadian auto industry has a lot hanging on these talks. The union wants to make sure investment in Canadian plants ramps up over the next four years and nowhere is that more important than in Windsor.
Unifor 200 President Chris Taylor has already said without new product, the Windsor Engine Plant is in danger of closing, but Chiodo says that's not just up to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford Canada and General Motors. He hopes senior governments take the erosion of the industry seriously with a commitment to help.
"We can't keep bleeding manufacturing jobs because it will affect hundreds of thousands of people in this country," says Chiodo.
The Canadian auto industry has shed approximately 53,000 jobs over the past 15 years, and a study last year said Canada had received just 0.2% of total global auto investment since 2011. More than half of the $24.1-billion in investment went to China.
Current contracts with domestic automakers expire September 19.
