WINDSOR — Windsor's mayor says the elimination of the third shift at the Windsor Assembly Plant is another example of the city's need to diversify its economy.
Drew Dilkens started raising concerns over the city's dependence on the auto industry during his inauguration speech in 2018, right after the closure of the GM plant in Oshawa.
Then the issue hit closer to home with last summer's announcement that 270 jobs would be lost with the closure of the Nemak Plant in west Windsor.
The move is expected to impact thousands of other workers at feeder plants across Windsor-Essex.
Dilkens says it's time for Windsor to "redouble" the city's effort to diversify its economy.
"We really need to come together and focus on an economic diversification strategy that we can collectively get behind to position our community and our region for the future that faces us," he says. "We need to re-double our efforts to make sure that this community and this region is resilient."
He tells AM800 News the city is already doing whatever it can to keep the auto industry in Windsor.
"We watch our bottom line, which helps their bottom line. From that perspective we have been very prudent with the tax rates we pass along to our industrial customers here in the city of Windsor but they're competing globally," he says.
Dilkens says city staff is ready to help connect workers affected by the move with the services they need.