More than 1,000 workers will be out of a job come Friday morning following an announcement that General Motors will be cutting its third shift at its Oshawa plant, the union representing employees says.
According to Jeff Gray, the president of Unifor Local 222, which represents GM workers in Oshawa, about 500 direct employees will be impacted by the layoffs, along with more than 500 other workers who are employed with companies that are part of the plant’s supply chain.
In a statement posted online on Wednesday, the union said the move comes as GM shifts jobs to the United States.
“Despite the trade war, GM posted $10 billion in profits in North America even after losing billions in tariffs. Autoworkers are in the middle of a deepening trade war,” the statement read.
Unifor added that there are “huge concerns” about the impact of a new deal that will allow 20 per cent of the electric car market to include made-in-China electric vehicles.
GM initially said it would cut the third shift last year but later pushed the timeline, saying the company would operate three shifts at the plant until early 2026.
“As announced last year, Oshawa Assembly will return to two shifts of production beginning February 2, while continuing preparations to build the next generation of gas-powered full-size pickups, reinforcing Oshawa’s future in GM’s key full-size truck program," GM said in a statement provided to CTV News.
“Approximately 500 employees will be placed on layoff when the plant returns to two-shifts of production and GM has worked closely with Unifor to support impacted employees through this transition with comprehensive separation packages, retirement support, and other benefits. We thank and recognize the employees impacted for their contributions.”
Last year, the automaker announced plans to hire an unspecified number of temporary employees at its Fort Wayne, Ind., assembly plant to increase production amid U.S. tariffs on imported vehicles.
The U.S. facility manufactures the GMC Sierra truck and the Chevrolet Silverado, which is currently the only vehicle produced at the assembly plant in Oshawa.
“I think we are all upset. We launched this truck in 2021. We hit every metric GM wanted to with productivity and safety and quality. Our members took these jobs thinking that they had finally a good job with a good collective bargaining agreement,” Gray said.
“And a few short years later, because of things that are out of our control… we are losing our third shift. And they are sending 50,000 of our units down to Fort Wayne, Ind., and that doesn’t sit well with us.”
Premier Ford calls layoffs ‘very disappointing’
Speaking about the layoffs at an unrelated news conference on Thursday morning, Premier Doug Ford said the province has a plan to provide support to workers.
“We are going to make sure they have opportunities in the defence sector, life sciences sector, other areas, and we will be there for them 24/7,” Ford said, calling GM’s decision “very disappointing.”
“This goes back to our point that we have to move quicker and faster and make sure that the federal government comes in to support not only these workers but the overall auto sector. We have to be more competitive. We have to get rid of the EV mandate to make ourselves more competitive.”
Gray said the union wants to see the federal government secure a trade deal that will protect the country’s auto workers.
“It is devastating news. We have a large portion of our membership that won’t have a job come tomorrow morning,” he said.
“We are speaking to members, we are speaking to politicians. We will speak to anybody who will listen to us. We have to continue this fight.”