GM Threatens To Sue Canadian Auto Union Over Scathing Super Bowl Ad

A worker wears a t-shirt during a information session at Local 222 in Oshawa, Ontario, on November 26, 2018. - In a massive restructuring, US auto giant General Motors announced it will cut 15 percent of its workforc... A worker wears a t-shirt during a information session at Local 222 in Oshawa, Ontario, on November 26, 2018. - In a massive restructuring, US auto giant General Motors announced it will cut 15 percent of its workforce to save $6 billion and adapt to "changing market conditions." The moves include shuttering seven plants worldwide as the company responds to changing customer preferences and focuses on popular trucks and SUVs and increasingly on electric models. GM will shutter three North American auto assembly plants next year: the Oshawa plant in Ontario, Canada; Hamtramck in Detroit, Michigan and Lordstown in Warren, Ohio. (Photo by Lars Hagberg / AFP) (Photo credit should read LARS HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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The Canadian subsidiary of General Motors was unable to stop an auto workers union from airing a critical TV commercial during the Super Bowl.

The 30-second ad calling the automaker greedy and “un-Canadian” broadcast on Canadian TV stations during Sunday’s game.

GM announced plans in November to close its car factory in Oshawa, Ontario, near Toronto, costing the jobs of about 2,600 blue-collar workers.

The commercial accuses GM of continuing to expand in Mexico while leaving Canadians “out in the cold” and makes claims about the costs of a 2009 auto bailout.

GM of Canada sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Unifor union giving it a Saturday deadline to stop using the ad, but the demand wasn’t heeded. GM says in a statement that the ad is misleading and inaccurate.

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  1. Avatar for davidn davidn says:

    Yeah, difficult to see anything to sue about in that ad.

    Consequences.

  2. GM layoffs start today. I believe the first 4,000 leave today.

  3. GM and other multinational corporate entities have the same loyalty to their employees that republikkkans have to the concepts of democracy and ‘patriotism’.

    Sorry, Canada.

  4. Sounds like Canada needs a southern border wall…

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