Jerry Dias, the new president of Unifor, speaks at the unios founding convention on Labour Day, 2013. (Photo: Unifor)

KITCHENER, Ont. — Unifor says it is escalating its drive to represent workers at three Toyota plants in southwestern Ontario.

Toyota provided its employee list to Unifor and the ontario Labour Relations Board earlier this week, indicating that the company has approximately 7,500 employees it believes are eligible to be part of the bargaining unit.

The unio says it has withdrawn an application it filed with the Labour Relations Board, but remains committed to forming a unio at Toyotas plants in Woodstock and Cambridge.

But instead of going to a vote next week, Unifor said Thursday it will be taking time to get more unio cards signed so there is no dispute over the numbers.

Unifor president Jerry Dias says it estimates there are 6,590 employees at Toyotas ontario auto plants eligible to join a unio. If they succeed, these would be the first Toyota plants in North America to become unioized.

Top concerns for Toyota workers include wages, pensions and workplace issues.

We had a tough choice to make, Dias said. We can engage in a lengthy legal battle about the employee list — or we can build on the momentum we have and get more cards signed. Weve chosen the latter.