Titan Tool & Die locks out veteran Windsor workforce in escalating labour dispute
WINDSOR, ON, Aug. 14, 2025 /CNW/ - The ongoing dispute at Titan Tool & Die continues to escalate after the company locked out approximately 25 Unifor Local 195 members on Monday August 11, 2025, following the company's demands for sweeping concessions and emptying the plant of tools, equipment and work. Locked out workers have between 30 and 40 years of service and an average age of 59 years.
"Throughout these negotiations, Titan Tool & Die's management has shown nothing but contempt for the people who helped build this company," said Unifor National President Lana Payne. "They've emptied the plant, demanded steep concessions, and then slammed the door in our members' faces after decades of loyalty and dedication. This is as heartless as it gets. Our union will not tolerate such cold-blooded behaviour."
The parties agreed to open negotiations for a renewal collective agreement on July 21, 2025. Days before bargaining commenced, Titan Tool & Die informed the union that Autokiniton, one of its key customers, would remove its dies, tooling, and equipment from the facility. Over several days, truckloads of parts and tools left the plant, and by July 29, the facility was nearly emptied of all work.
On the same day, the company tabled a 15-page package of deep monetary concessions including a wage freeze, elimination of workers' Cost of Living Allowance (COLA), reduction of pension contributions, and slashing of health benefits for workers and their families, among many others.
Following the expiry of the collective agreement on July 31, 2025, the union continued to pursue negotiations with the company while workers reported for work only to be sent home after four hours each day due to lack of available work. On August 8, the company sent Unifor a letter threatening to lock out the workforce unless the union accepted monetary concessions. Three days later, the company locked its doors on workers.
Founded in Windsor in 1956, Titan Tool & Die has been a cornerstone of the local manufacturing sector, supplying precision parts for the auto industry. The union alleges that the company's recent actions signal an intention to move production to its U.S. facility, abandoning the community that helped it succeed.
"Our members are among the most experienced auto parts workers in Canada, and they've stood by Titan for decades," said Emile Nabbout, President of Unifor Local 195. "Now the company has locked them out, turned its back on Windsor, and is preparing to move our jobs across the border. You don't walk away from a loyal workforce and a community without a fight."
In a letter sent to the company today, Unifor questioned company claims of financial duress and requested that Titan Tool & Die clarify its plans for the future of the Windsor facility.
"Our union has been clear that we will not tolerate any company using the trade war as cover to strip their plants, lock out workers, and ship jobs out of Canada," said Lana Payne. "Titan Tool & Die may think its heavy-handed tactics will slip under the radar, but Canadians are watching. We will not stand by while corporations exploit this moment to cut and run."
Union records show that the company has benefitted from years of cost savings, including intermittent wage and COLA freezes, along with a wind-up of the workers' defined benefit pension plan in 2012. At the time of pension wind-up, the plan had a substantial shortfall. The company did not make up the shortfall, resulting in the reduction of pension benefits for workers. Unifor calculates that, after years of negligible wage increases, from 2009 through 2024 production workers' real wages decreased by 15% and skilled trades workers by 18%, when adjusted for inflation. The union further estimates that the company's latest wage offer would result in an additional 11% decline in real wages for production and skilled trades workers over the next four years.
Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector, representing 320,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.
SOURCE Unifor
For media inquiries or to arrange interviews please contact Unifor Communications Director David Molenhuis at [email protected] or by cell at (416) 575-7453.
Share this article