The head of Canada’s largest labor organization on Monday was blunt in her assessment of a powerful union leader south of the border over his support of U.S. President Donald Trump’s auto tariffs.
Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, said United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain is “100 per cent” wrong in his support of Trump’s 25 per cent levies on auto imports.
“Shawn Fain is wrong,” Bruske said at a news conference in Windsor on Monday morning. “He’s absolutely wrong.”
Bruske’s comments illustrate the sharp divide on tariffs between union leaders in Canada and the U.S., who share decades of history and have more commonly worked in solidarity. They also come as Fain continues to defend his decision to back Trump’s trade war, arguing that tariffs will force manufacturing companies to move jobs to the U.S.
But industry experts and Canadian union leaders have repeatedly warned that tariffs on Canada and Mexico could destabilize – and even destroy – the North American auto sector, which is built upon a deeply integrated supply chain.
“We already know that five different U.S. plants have layoffs today because of the imposition of tariffs and because of how integrated our economy is,” Bruske said, the busy Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit in the background.
“So whatever [Fain]’s trying to achieve in terms of getting more manufacturing back to the U.S., this is already impacting UAW members on the southern side of the border as well,” she said.
Stellantis, which builds the Pacifica minivans in Windsor, announced last week that it would pause production at the plant for two weeks as a result of Trump’s tariffs, which took effect Thursday.
The company has also paused production at one of its factories in Mexico. Those closures have led to temporary layoffs at five plants in Michigan and Indiana.
Bruske and other union leaders said they were in Windsor on Monday to show solidarity with autoworkers and demand more support for those facing layoffs.
The CLC wants to see Canada’s employment insurance system expanded and public procurement to support unionized workplaces, among other things. Bruske also called on financial institutions to protect workers from losing their homes or cars.
“When workers face layoffs, we are calling on banks and lenders to step up and support workers,” Bruske said. “And that means at this critical time, no foreclosures, no repossessions, not now, not while workers in this country are under attack.”
Her comments about Fain came after she stepped in to answer a reporter’s question for a Canadian UAW member who attended the press conference.
Bill Pollock, president of UAW Local 251, represents workers in a range of industries across southwestern Ontario, including automotive suppliers. He was asked how he reconciled his solidarity with local workers with Fain’s support of the tariffs.
“It’s not for me to reconcile,” he said. “But I do know that the tariffs enacted are — let me rephrase that. They’re not after our jobs, they’re after fair trade agreements, not after our jobs.”
Earlier in the event, Pollock, a “proud member” of the UAW since 1970, said he wanted to “try to set the record straight” on the union’s position regarding tariffs.
“The UAW’s not against the workers in Canada. The UAW is in support of the workers in Canada,” Pollock said. “What we’re calling for is a fair trade framework that protects and uplifts working class workers across North America.”
The UAW did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, in an interview with NPR published Monday morning, Fain appeared to limit his support of tariffs to those on the automotive industry. The UAW leader called Trump’s announcement last week of a wide range of reciprocal tariffs “reckless.”
Trump’s previously announced auto tariffs immediately applied a 25 per cent levy on fully assembled vehicle imports. Next month, the same tariff will apply to imported parts.
The administration has said companies importing under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) will be able to lower their tariffs by certifying the U.S. content in their products, but the process to do so remains unclear.
