In any given week, Mike Van Boekel estimates he might write a half-dozen letters to lenders or landlords explaining the situation facing workers at the General Motors plant in Ingersoll, Ont. 

The Unifor leader at Canada’s first full-scale all-EV plant tells them his unionized workers are a “safe bet” that are just going through a “rough patch,” facing unpredictable work schedules and sometimes temporary layoffs as the auto industry tackles supply-chain woes and an uneasy transition to EVs.

Van Boekel’s workplace is the CAMI plant, which makes electric BrightDrop vans. Unlike some GM plants, it isn’t negotiating a contract for unionized workers this week. But the experience of workers at EV plants like CAMI is near the heart of the disputes currently playing out between automakers and unions across North America. 

The CAMI plant is in the first wave of Detroit 3 auto plants that are being completely remodelled in the next decade to make EVs, having shut its doors temporarily in 2022 for the transition. Then, workers had to be trained in new jobs, many while working schedules of two weeks on, four weeks off that meant constantly adjusting to a new routine. The plant will shut down again a week from tomorrow amid a battery shortage. These interruptions come after it went still in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, then again in 2021 as chip shortages forced automakers to leave vehicles unfinished and temporarily lay off workers.

GM has made strides to remedy the issue. The CAMI plant remodelling last year was the fastest in the company’s history, and the company plans to add what Unifor estimates could be “hundreds” of jobs by making more batteries on site, as it expands its Quebec battery-materials factory. CEO Mary Barra said in July she’s “personally” overseeing the project, and GM Canada spokesperson Monte Doran said there’s been progress, with the BrightDrop plant on pace to make more than enough batteries when it restarts vehicle production in spring.

Doran also said the company and Unifor are discussing the prospect of additional layoff benefits for workers, and that BrightDrop’s rapid commercialization gave GM “invaluable insights and market feedback that position BrightDrop and CAMI for long-term success.”

On the sidelines of Unifor and GM’s heated negotiations at the Sheraton hotel in Toronto, Van Boekel struggled to find a spare minute to chat. Union negotiations really are as animated as they look in the movies, he said, and they’d be lucky to get a full night’s rest or a break to scarf a burger any time soon.

Van Boekel sees a need for more worker benefits to offset the growing pains of the EV transition. He admits his letters can’t solve everything, citing the example of a worker whose kid turned down a spot on a sports team because the $1,300 fee was too steep amid unpredictable cash flow. 

But his experience at CAMI has made him hopeful about the EV transition in many ways—after all, “someone had to be the first one,” he said. He sees more continuity on the assembly line each month, hears of orders coming in by the thousands, and senses that customers are accepting EV technology more than he initially expected.

“It will get better; there’s money to be made there,” he said. “We just hope people can hang on, and by next year… [we are] just booming for the next decade or two.”

Still, Van Boekel said, there are lessons from his plant’s experience. For one, he’s planning to fight to raise supplemental employment benefits and income-maintenance plans for workers that are temporarily laid off, even if it means just about $75 more per week for families. Without them, he said, the “dark ages” might be coming for some members who are close to exhausting their benefits. 

If they could do it again, he said, he would like to see the onsite battery manufacturing there from the beginning—with more EV models debuting constantly, he expects competition for batteries will only get steeper. 

“Our plant was ready,” he said. “We just can’t get the supply.”

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