Busy schedule ahead for new Unifor 444 president James Stewart

The new president of Unifor Local 444 says one of his top priorities as president will be to save about 300 jobs in the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Transport operations in Windsor.

As head of the region's largest union, James Stewart said there are still plenty of negotiations with the company that plans to contract out the shipping branch of its business by the end of the year.

• James Stewart new president of Unifor Local 444

"The easiest thing we could do is pick a fight with the company and potentially shut down the workplace," he said, during his first news conference since taking over the position last week. "That's not our goal. Our goal is to try and resolve it, maintain the division ... and make sure we're here beyond 2020."

Stewart, 44, was the first vice-president at Unifor before being appointed by the executive board. He replacesformer president Dino Chiodo, who has been named the auto director for Unifor national.

Stewart says he wants to focus on the busy schedule ahead of him. In addition to FCA, the bargaining team are preparing for negotiations with Caesars Windsor early next year.

"My only aim right now is leading the local because we have some challenging things coming at us," he said.