Unionized workers at Titan Tool to be locked out Monday says Local 195 president

Titan Tool workers have been locked out, part of an ongoing labour dispute.

Unionized workers at Titan Tool & Die Limited in Windsor will be locked out starting Monday Aug. 11, according to Unifor Local 195 president Emile Nabbout.

The two sides have been in talks for a new collective agreement. The current agreement expired on July 31.

Nabbout previously told AM800 News that negotiations were not heading in a positive direction.

Nabbout said the union was informed by the employer on Friday that workers would be locked out beginning Monday and negotiations have stopped.

“At this time, the company has locked us out unless they get some concessions from us. They basically locked out our members and no longer want our service, so we will have people picketing no different than the normal strike activity we perform in any other workplace,” Nabbout said.

Nabbout said his members are angry about being locked out.

“The company has disrepected the work they have done for them. They work hard and they made sure that this company survive when they needed us to step to plate, and now our members need this company to step up to the plate and protect the work we do,” he said.

In March, the company attempted to remove some equipment from the Howard Avenue facility to the United States.

At that time, unionized workers at the plant spent a day blocking a transport truck from taking equipment out of the facility.

Nabbout said the employer was not being truthful when they used the tariff threat as the reasoning.

Nabbout said the union would not accept concessions but would be open to other discussions with the employer.

“Normally we don’t ask an employer to do a closure, but we have given them breaks in the last 12 years, and they have never invested in this facility, they have invested elsewhere,” Nabbout said.

“They have a purchase facility in Michigan on the backs of our members for giving them breaks, and if the company wants to do a closure agreement, we will entertain the closure agreement instead of rolling back on all the gains we made over the years.”

Nabbout said he and his members will be on the picket line first thing Monday morning.

AM800 News has left a message with the company for a response on the situation but did not hear back at time of publication.

- Written by AM800’s Dustin Coffman and Robert Hindi