Windsor's mayor says the Windsor Assembly Plant is "making vehicles people want to buy."
Drew Dilkens told AM800's Mornings with Mike and Meg that a third shift at most plants "is not normal," but the return of the third shift speaks to the volume, the production, and the quality of the product if they can get a third shift.
Stellantis reintroduced the third shift with more than 1,700 employees reporting to work just before midnight Tuesday, bringing the total number of employees at the plant to approximately 6,000.
The automaker eliminated the third shift in July 2020, resulting in approximately 1,500 job losses, but Stellantis announced its return in September 2025.
Dilkens says it speaks to the volume, the production, and the quality of the product if they can get a third shift.
"Stellantis made a commitment and good on Unifor for negotiating that, and even in the heart of this trade war where everyone is talking about the auto industry and the impact on the auto industry, guess what?," says Dilkens. "Here's the third shift starting last night because they're making vehicles people want to buy, which is great news for us here in Windsor."
He says they're making vehicles people want to buy.
"You know it's really interesting because the third shift at most plants is not normal," he says. "It speaks to the volume, the production, and the quality of a product produced at a plant if they can get a third shift."
19-year-old Georgia Leblanc is a TPT worker on the midnight shift at the Windsor Assembly Plant.
She first applied in the summer of 2024 and got a call in late 2025.
"My dad keeps on saying, 'It's like I won the lottery,' which I basically did," she says. "It pays about $34 an hour with the midnight shift premium, and I'm very happy to have this job."
Leblanc says she's working the midnight shift and going to school right after.
"It's a big step for me," says Leblanc. "I mean, I'm just used to being a kid and just being lazy, but now it's time to pull your socks up and go to work."
The first shift of the relaunched midnight shift at the Windsor Assembly Plant is in the books. Workers completed their first shift just after 7:30. #cklw @AM800CKLW pic.twitter.com/hplsLRf7Lz
— Rob Hindi (@rhindi800) February 17, 2026
21-year-old Adam Mezied is a TPT worker at the Windsor Assembly Plant.
He's been at the plant for three years and wanted to try midnights for the pay.
Mezied says working midnights works better with his school schedule, and he also gets a 10 per cent premium for working midnights.
"Money's good, and my school's good; I'm balancing it pretty well," says Mezied. "So we only have to work three days a week. I'm choosing to work more because I want to."
The now three-shift operation will run on midnights, days, and afternoons in all major areas of the plant, including Body-in-White (BIW), Paint, General Assembly, and Material Handling.
The Windsor plant assembles the Chrysler Pacifica, Chrysler Voyager, and Grand Caravan minivan, along with the Dodge Charger, which was recently named 2026 North American Car of the Year at the Detroit Auto Show this past January.
The plant will produce the SIXPACK-powered Scat Pack and R/T versions of the Charger and the all-electric Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack.