As members of Unifor got rallied in protest of GM’s decision to close its Oshawa plant, the question of whether to boycott GM products again reared its head.
Bryan Cooper, the Unifor plant chair at Penske Logistics in Ingersoll, asked not that consumers stop buying GM products, but that they do not buy cars that weren’t made in Canada.
"We're asking the general public to try and make that conscious decision and to look at buying Canadian-made products and support our workers and not the imports that are coming in or out of Mexico."
Still, Fanshawe College Economics Professor Darren Chapman says calls by Unifor for a GM boycott are a gamble that could potentially pay off in the long run if GM sees a negative impact on sales.
He says Unifor is right to insist that GM supply jobs to Canadian workers if it expects Canadians to buy its products.
"It will make a difference to GM. They will see and their dealers will see some reduction of sales...and remember every car that doesn't get sold doesn't get serviced, and etcetera, etcetera. So it will certainly hurt at the micro level. And at that point they have to make a decision whether or not, you know, they have to find other ways to employ Canadians."
Two London GM dealers approached by CTV News declined to comment on the prospect of a GM boycott or whether the call was already having an impact.
