The president of Unifor Local 444 says 'you're going to see a boon to the Windsor economy' based on the return of the third shift to the Windsor Assembly Plant.
James Stewart, who represents unionized workers at the plant, says they're good paying jobs.
"You got to remember, we have a whole feeder system around Windsor-Essex, union and non-union; they're all going to benefit," he says. "They're going to add shifts of their own. You're really going to see a boon to the Windsor economy based on this third shift."
Stellantis announced Thursday that more than 1,700 employees will begin the new third shift Tuesday, February 17, bringing the total number of employees at the plant to approximately 6,000.
The third shift was eliminated in July 2020, resulting in approximately 1,500 job losses, but Stellantis announced its return in September 2025.
According to the automaker, the 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.
Stewart says this great for those workers.
"It's great for the 1,200 or 1,300 new hires that are getting an opportunity, and some of them are moving from other jobs. There's going to be jobs opening in our community in every sector because of this," he says.
Stewart says he just had a meeting with the president and CEO of Stellantis Canada about the third shift and the business plan.
"This is the only definitive good news in the auto industry today, and it's happening in Windsor, so that's really important," he says.
The increased production comes as the Windsor plant now 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.