An hours long standoff came to a peaceful end Monday evening after unionized workers at Titan Tool and Die spent the day blocking a transport truck from taking equipment out of the Howard Avenue facility and moving it to the United States.
Unifor Local 195 says it received an e-mail on Friday that die equipment be removed as a direct result of tariffs being imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The union asked the plant manager for a pause until they had a better understanding of what was going on, but Monday morning the company moved forward with removing dies from its operations.
A union official says at least one truck was able to leave for an operation in Michigan before employees were able to block any more from taking equipment out.
D.J. Lacey is Unifor's Skilled Trades National Representative overseeing the members at Titan Tool and Die.
Lacey says this was an attack on workers.
"We've taken a stance that were not allowing these tariffs to have any impact on any of our jobs, manufacturing, because of tariffs," Lacey said. "That's the initiative all the way from the top, and we're not going to stand by and watch good paying jobs, and things like that affect our community, affect our members, because, you know, politics, right?"
Union officials believe that if the equipment left, the plant would shut down.
Lacey says he's proud of his members for standing up to protect their jobs.
"This affects everybody, it's not just a matter of these workers at Titan Tool, it's a matter of losing good paying jobs in the community, and these members support communities, whether it be local restaurants, going to your hairdresser, all these things come into play and if these workers aren't standing up for that, all that's at risk," he said.
Trump is expected to impose what he calls "reciprocal" tariffs on Wednesday, and then his 25 per cent levies on automobiles and parts are set to go into effect Thursday.
Lacey says from his understanding it was the vendor who requested its die equipment be returned back to them in the U.S.
A meeting between between the union and Titan officials was scheduled for Monday night, and Lacey said he remained hopeful for further resolve with the employer.
"April 2 is coming quick, and if this is any indication on how this employer is thinking of their next business move, then I think we need to really hash that out and see where we're at," he said.
Unifor Local 195 currently represents around 30 to 32 employees at Titan Tool and Die, which makes products for the auto industry.
AM800 News reached out to Titan Tool and Die but did not receive a response from the company.
-With files from CTV Windsor's Robert Lothian