A somber mood at the Windsor Assembly Plant after FCA Canada announced the elimination of a third production shift, and the loss of 1,500 jobs.
Workers leaving the plant after the midnight shift told CTV Windsor they're disappointed with the decision.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles released a statement on Thursday, saying it will halt the third shift at Windsor Assembly as of Sept. 30, 2019.
The statement said is it “in order to better align production with global demand.”
(Image courtesy of CTV News)
The announcement follows months of slumping sales of the Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Grand Caravan, both built at Windsor Assembly.
Sales of the Pacifica this year are down 54 per cent in Canada through February and 24 per cent in the U.S. Sales of the Grand Caravan are down more than 20 per cent in both countries over the same period.
“Like our slogan says, it's a family of one in here, and as silly as that sounds, we're a tight knit group, so we're kind of reeling right now,” says employee Scott Atkinson.
“It's pretty grim in there,” says employee Linda Platt. “A lot of people worried a lot of families, you know, a lot of people are going to be affected by this.”
Rod Drouillard described the mood inside the plant Friday as somber.
“A lot of the low seniority not too happy, going to lose their jobs,” says Drouillard. “And it's too bad. People having families.”
Unifor Local 444 learned of the move to two shifts around 2 p.m. on Thursday.
“Direct families depend on us and we're going to do everything possible to make sure that we maintain three shifts at Windsor Assembly Plant,” said Unifor Local 444 president David Cassidy.
Midnight shift workers leaving the Windsor Assembly Plant on Friday March 29, 2019 (Photo by CTV's Rich Garton)
FCA Canada spokesperson, Lou Ann Gosselin says “every effort” will be made to help laid off workers.
“The company will make every effort to place indefinitely laid off hourly employees in open full-time positions as they become available based on seniority,” said Gosselin in a statement.
The plant, which employs over 6,000 people, underwent a $2-billion retooling in 2015 to start building the Chrysler Pacifica.
When operating at full volume, the Windsor plant produces nearly 1,500 minivans per day.
There has been a third production shift at Windsor Assembly since the early 1990’s.
Federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains was in Windsor Friday and offered support to local workers following the announcement.