Stellantis Canada's unionized auto employees who were place on leave without pay because they declined the COVID-19 vaccine will be back at work on June 25..David Cassidy, who is the Unifor Local 444 president, announced the recent arbitration ruling in favour of those union members working at auto manufacturer Stellantis in Windsor, Ontario..Union workers with the Local 444 branch had filed a grievance on the basis the policy was "unfair and unreasonable.".It says that while the arbitrator ruled the policy was reasonable when put in place, and remains reasonable, new variants of COVID-19 and other factors make the policy unreasonable as of June 25..“Many people thought that we should not take it on, that it was not winnable, they saw all the case history … around it,” said Cassidy..“We felt that people cannot just lose their jobs because of a [medical] choice that they make, so it was very imperative to us ... and I’m happy to report that we’re successful, people will be coming back to work on June 25.”.Details on the return to work will be worked out with the company, he said..Stellantis was formed in 2021 after Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) merged with the French PSA Group..As of Monday, vaccination against COVID-19 is no longer required for federally regulated workers following the vaccine mandate’s “suspension” announcement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government last Tuesday..Stellantis enforced its policy beginning December 17, 2021 and will still require proof of vaccination to enter its Canadian operations until June 25..Stellantis began suspending unvaccinated employees without pay in January..A spokesperson for Stellantis said in a statement the company was “very pleased” with the arbitrator’s decision that found the vaccine policy reasonable, according to the Windsor Star..“We are very pleased with the arbitrator’s decision that the Stellantis vaccine policy is reasonable,” the automaker said. “Stellantis takes its obligation to provide a safe and healthy working environment for its 9,000+ employees throughout Canada seriously. We are carefully reviewing the decision before determining next steps.”.“The arbitrator also made note of the federal government's lifting of mandatory vaccination policies for government employees effective June 20th of 2022 in this decision,” Cassidy wrote in a post on the union chapter’s official Facebook page.
