The corporate conglomerate building an electric battery plant in Windsor that is slated to receive billions of dollars in government support has ramped up its use of foreign workers at the site and has even taken work away from unionized tradespeople in recent weeks, according to explosive new allegations from a national trades union federation.
Canada’s Building Trades Union penned a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this month expressing frustration with Nextstar’s insistence on using temporary foreign workers through its various subcontractors, saying 50 foreign workers were set to arrive in Windsor in early April to perform work previously promised to Canadians.
The union federation said the work could easily be performed by local tradespeople despite claims from Nextstar that it was only bringing over workers because it needed their “specialized knowledge” to get the facility up and running. For example, the CBTU said it had proof of foreign workers offloading equipment for module lines, using forklifts and conducting equipment installation work previously contracted to Canadian workers.