Nearly 300 Lion workers join union: “The employer tried everything to prevent this group of workers from joining our union”

Some 300 Quebec workers from the manufacturer Lion Électrique have just joined a union, to the great delight of union organizations, who maintain that the employer was putting obstacles in their way.

“The employer tried everything to prevent this group of workers from joining our union, but their desire to gain respect and justice at work got the better of their anti-union tactics,” said Éric Gagné, responsible for organizing for District 11 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), in a press release.

“The production employees at the Saint-Jérôme plant have chosen to partner with the AIMTA and we respect that choice,” Lion spokesperson Patrick Gervais said in a terse statement sent to Journal.

Motivated by their victory in Quebec, the union members now hope to recruit their American counterparts from the Joliet, Illinois, plant.

“Our goal is to unionize all Lion Electric plants in North America,” warned David Chartrand, Canadian VP General of the IAMAW.

In mid-April, The newspaper reported that Lion employees had filed a request for union accreditation with the Administrative Labor Tribunal (TAT) through the Machinists’ Union (AIMTA).

Public funds

Let us recall that 150 workers were dismissed last November.

At the same time, Lion was swimming in losses of $56.5 million in the last quarter of 2023 despite a 30% increase in revenue ($60 million).

A year ago, Investissement Québec (IQ), the Fonds de solidarité FTQ and Fondaction loaned $98 million to Lion, which has already received $100 million in loans from Quebec and Ottawa in 2021.

Over the past five years, Lion’s New York stock has collapsed by more than 90% to $0.88.