The head of former CAW Local 1973 expects General Motors will take a hit on sales from its decision to close Oshawa.
Bill Reeves was president of the local when GM announced it was closing the Windsor transmission plant.
CAW Local 1973 Hall on Walker Road (Courtesy Tony Sisti)
He remembers how difficult that time was and believes what the company has done now will hurt it's position in the marketplace.
Reeves spoke on AM800's the Afternoon News about the announcement of the plant closure.
Reeves says the Windsor plant announcement still has an impact on the local sales of vehicles.
"I certainly can see where it's going to affect GM dealerships. The reason being that even with Windsor closing I've got a number of friends they're upset about and they didn't even work for GM, they're just upset how GM left Windsor and to this day they won't buy a General Motors product"
He says the GM decision to shutter it's Oshawa plant will damage the company's reputation.
"Hopefully we won't see any more plants close or any reductions anywhere moving forward. But it certainly hurts, it's gotta hurt dealerships in Canada I can see it"
Reeves says there's already a mindset to support the companies that support Canadians.
"We've had the campaigns here, Buy Canadian. And if they're going to, people are going to support companies that invest and manufacture, produce products in Canada"
Reeves knows the situation from both sides, as a former union leader and now working at a GM dealership.