Unvaccinated staff at Normal Motors’ CAMI Meeting Plant have been compelled onto unpaid leaves of absence (LOA) following the automaker’s Sunday vaccination deadline, in keeping with the union that represents hourly staff on the plant.

Mike Van Boekel, Unifor chairperson for the Ingersoll, Ont. meeting facility, confirmed Monday an undisclosed variety of Native 88 members have been place LOA, however wouldn’t remark additional. Final week, he estimated roughly 100 unvaccinated staff had not secured medical or spiritual exemption to the obligatory vaccination coverage.

Although the vaccine mandate went ahead unaltered for unvaccinated employees, the union secured “fairly just a few” adjustments from GM, together with a last-minute reprieve for members who’ve obtained just one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, Van Boekel advised members in a Dec. 9 replace. With the adjustments, staff with a single dose can be allowed to proceed working, however will finally must show they’re totally vaccinated, he stated.

When launched in October, GM’s coverage required personnel getting into any of the automaker’s Canadian services to be totally vaccinated by Dec. 12.

GM Canada wouldn’t touch upon the main points of its coverage for CAMI or its wider community of Canadian services, however stated the “overwhelming majority” of the corporate’s staff have met the necessities.

“For many who aren’t compliant, GM Canada is working with them individually to develop an affordable plan to change into totally vaccinated, to safe an authorised exemption, or to make different employment preparations,” the corporate advised Automotive Information Canada in an e-mail.

Every of the Detroit Three automakers launched a vaccine mandate for its Canadian services this fall, and GM’s is the primary to be applied. The Stellantis coverage was initially scheduled to take impact Dec. 17 however has been delayed till Dec. 31 to supply ample time to work via exception requests, in keeping with the corporate. Ford’s mandate is anticipated to change into energetic Jan. 3.

The insurance policies have proved extremely controversial, prompting Unifor, which represents greater than 10,000 hourly staff on the U.S.-based automakers, to induce every firm to delay implementing its mandate. The vaccine necessities have additionally spawned protests led by union members, who view Unifor’s pushback in opposition to the insurance policies as insufficient.

Van Boekel advised members final week the vaccine guidelines have proved very polarizing for the union, including that GM dealt with the mandate “terribly.”

“Don’t get me improper, I do suppose the vaccination coverage is the proper plan, however there may have been different choices that they used,” he stated. The “double customary” of GM not enacting an identical coverage for its tens of 1000’s of hourly staff in the USA is “seemingly the largest slap within the face,” he added.

With the mandate now in impact, Van Boekel stated GM will begin conducting “random spot checks” for proof of vaccination in January on the plant that employs roughly 1,600 hourly staff and builds the Chevrolet Equinox.

“If you happen to falsified your reply, you’ll be terminated and I don’t have a lot of a solution for you by way of a grievance. So, be certain your solutions are right.”

Native 88 additionally expects GM to maneuver to terminate members placed on an LOA this week by early subsequent yr. The union plans to grieve “every termination” however Van Boekel warned unvaccinated staff they’re unlikely to seek out any recourse.

“I wish to be very, very, very clear. We simply seemed on the case regulation that’s piling up. You will have a really weak case to get your case overturned.”