Auto unions in Canada, U.S. at odds over tariffs

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Two prominent auto-worker unions, which have long been united in their antagonism of free-trade practices, now find themselves on opposing ends of the tariff war unleashed by the U.S. on Canada.

The United Auto Workers Union (UAW), which represents more than 350,000 (mainly auto) workers in America, took a strong protectionist stand in support of the 25-per-cent tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canada and Mexico this week. The Trump administration has since granted a reprieve to the auto sector, sparring it from tariffs for a month, but insists the duties will begin in April.

The UAW did not respond to multiple interview requests from The Globe and Mail. However, in a statement released on Tuesday, the union – whose members might be subject to layoffs if auto tariffs come into effect – applauded Mr. Trump for taking “aggressive action” against free trade, saying that tariffs were a powerful tool in “undoing the injustice of anti-worker trade deals.”

Unifor, the private-sector union representing Canadian auto workers, called Mr. Trump’s tariffs unjust, stating that the tariffs would swiftly shut down auto plants in both the U.S. and Canada, putting most North American auto workers out of jobs in the short run.

The unions’ divergent positions on the tariff issue is a sharp departure from their history of being collectively opposed to free-trade agreements in general. Both had been vehemently against the North American free-trade agreement (NAFTA) for decades, because integrating Mexico into vehicle production led to multiple plant closings and the loss of tens of thousands of auto jobs in the U.S. and Canada.

(NAFTA was replaced by USMCA in 2020, which Mr. Trump negotiated in his first term, and it had higher country-of-origin rules, which meant that a larger percentage of auto parts had to be made within the continent to avoid duties.)

Lana Payne, Unifor’s president, said that she could not comment on UAW’s position on the tariffs, but was certain that tariffs would result in harm to auto workers on both sides of the border.

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The UAW’s recent position on tariffs is puzzling to multiple labour experts, given that it would have a direct negative impact on American auto workers.

“It is a strange approach, especially if you consider how anti-Trump this union has been,” said Jim Stanford, a former economist with the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union and current director of the Centre for Future Work, a think tank in Vancouver.

UAW President Shawn Fain endorsed former Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in 2024, and has called Mr. Trump a “scab” and “clown” who “wants working-class people to sit down and shut up.” The UAW also brought federal labour charges against Mr. Trump and Elon Musk last August, for threatening to fire workers who engage in strikes.

Sam Gindin, a former research director at the CAW, said he believed UAW leadership could be struggling to maintain member support in the face of domestic issues like rising inequality, and the general erosion of union power and labour rights in the U.S.

“By supporting Trump’s tariffs, auto-union leadership is responding to where they think a lot of their members are at. Many auto workers are Trump supporters because they see him as someone who fights for them,” Mr. Gindin said.

For Unifor, the opposition to U.S. tariffs is clear: North American vehicle production is so integrated that charging taxes on every movement of auto parts between borders will substantially increase the final price of a car, forcing companies to temporarily cease production (and cut jobs in U.S., Canada and Mexico) in order to keep costs low.

“What union would want that?” said Stephanie Ross, a professor of labour studies at McMaster University. “The UAW position is disappointing because they are throwing other countries’ workers under the bus, and they are not being particularly honest with their own membership about the impact.”

According to Mr. Stanford, there was never much disagreement between Unifor (formerly the CAW) and the UAW in the decades where North American vehicle production was governed by the Auto Pact, a trade agreement between the U.S. and Canada that was premised upon the idea that auto companies should produce vehicles and generate jobs in proportion to their market size.

“Even though the CAW was an independent union, the two unions had a broadly similar approach to wanting to limit globalization and have a managed trade arrangement,” explained Mr. Stanford.

NAFTA took effect in 1994 and the Auto Pact was declared illegal by the World Trade Organization in 2001, resulting in both the UAW and CAW losing a significant chunk of their member base as jobs moved south.

The UAW had about 370,000 members as of 2023, substantially lower than its 1970 high of 1.5 million members.

Arthur Wheaton, director of the Labour Studies program at Cornell University, said that there was always a wing of the UAW that was opposed to the very existence of Canadian auto plants because they took away jobs from Americans.

“It’s not necessarily very surprising that they are supporting the tariffs. I cannot say if UAW leadership likes Trump, but they certainly like the idea of having manufacturing brought back to the U.S., even if it means the loss of Canadian jobs,” he said.