GM expected to close Oshawa plant
Move would throw 2,800 out of work
OSHAWA, ONT. • The Canadian Press has learned that General Motors Canada will announce on Monday that it’s closing its plant in Oshawa, Ont., affecting thousands of jobs.
A source familiar with the situation says the closure of the assembly plant east of Toronto is part of a shift in the company’s global production
The huge — and modern — plant has 2,500 unionized employees and 300 nonunion workers.
The union representing more than 2,500 workers at the GM plant says that while it does not have complete details of the announcement, it has been informed that there is no product allocated to the Oshawa plant past December 2019.
Unifor says it “does not accept this announcement,” and is scheduled to meet with GM on Monday.
A spokeswoman for the company said Sunday that GM had “no news or comment tonight” and would not be commenting on speculation.
Oshawa Mayor John Henry said the closure would have ripple effects well beyond the city of roughly 170,000.
“It’s going to affect the province, it’s going to affect the region ... The auto industry’s been a big part of the province of Ontario for over 100 years,” Henry said in a phone interview.
Amid anxious calls on Twitter for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford to do something save the plant, two local Tory MPs vowed to investigate.
“Extremely concerned about reports regarding potential closure of GM Canada Oshawa operations,” Durham MP Erin O’Toole tweeted Sunday. He said he and Oshawa MP Colin Carrie were “reaching out for information.”
“I have seen the same reports as many in my riding, which claim GM may be closing their operations in Oshawa, and I find these reports gravely concerning,” Oshawa NDP MPP Jennifer French told Global News.
“If GM Canada is indeed turning its back on 100 years of industry and community — abandoning workers and families in Oshawa — then this is a callous decision that must be fought,” she told the network.
“Words cannot fully describe the anxiety that my community is feeling at this moment.”
The current plant opened in 1953 and produces Chevrolet Equinox, Cadillac XTS, Buick Regal and Chevrolet Impala, according to the GM Canada website.
Workers held their breath just a few years ago when it appeared the plant might close.
When the federal and provincial governments bailed out the auto industry in 2009 at a time when bankruptcy appeared imminent, the deal required the Big Three to keep 16 per cent of its North American production in Canada — a requirement that ended in 2016.