CHATHAM, Ont. – The Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) has featured the International Truck and Engine Corp. plant in a national ad campaign urging government support to keep the plant open.

CAW president, Buzz Hargrove, told a local newspaper that the CAW hasn’t written off the International plant in Chatham. The plant is slated for closure next June, with operations moving to Mexico.

Calling himself “an eternal optimist,” Hargrove says he believes with government support at all levels, International can be persuaded to keep building trucks at the Chatham plant.

Hargrove says the ad campaign featuring the Chatham truck plant will show how important having an auto pact is, especially for communities where the auto industry is a major employer.