The union representing auto workers at the General Motors plant in Oshawa, Ont. says the company is cutting its third shift this fall, citing U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Unifor, which represents about 3,000 employees at the Oshawa facility, said the shift reduction is “reckless” and that the move will “ripple through” the auto parts supplier network.
Local 222 President Jeff Gray said the move will impact hundreds of jobs.
“We are going to have, potentially, just over 700 direct employees affected on the third shift at General Motors Oshawa,” he told CP24 Friday morning, noting that 1,500 supply chain jobs will also be impacted.
GM said it is making the transition from a three-shift to two-shift facility “in light of forecast demand and the evolving trade environment.”
“These changes will help support a sustainable manufacturing footprint as GM reorients the Oshawa plant to build more trucks in Canada for Canadian customers,” the company said in a statement.
PM, premier react
Unifor National President Lana Payne told CP24 that the decision to cut the shift before Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump had a chance to meet and discuss the ongoing trade war was “horrendous.”
“Honestly, General Motors should have at least given our prime minister a chance to have a sit down meeting with Donald Trump to negotiate an economic deal. We all knew that those talks were coming,” Payne told CP24 in an interview.
Carney announced Friday that he will travel to Washington on Tuesday to meet with Trump.
The prime minister also commented on the situation in Oshawa in his first news conference since winning Monday night’s election. He expressed his “deepest sympathy” to the workers and their families and said his government is “fighting hard” for the auto sector.
“And making sure that companies act in true partnership as well, in maintaining employment and investment in Canada. And if not, there will be consequences for those companies,” he said.
Last month, Trump’s 25 per cent tariff on all vehicle imports into the United States went into effect, which includes a carveout for the American-made parts of cars that are compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
On Tuesday, Trump signed two executive orders to give the industry some relief, including one that spared companies already paying the auto tariffs from the 25 per cent tax on steel and aluminum.
Meanwhile, the White House was planning to introduce a similar tariff on auto parts this weekend, but U.S. Customs and Border Protection released guidance on Thursday that said those parts are also exempt under CUSMA.
However, the union said the new guidance “changes nothing for the Canadian auto industry.”
“It is solely designed to keep U.S. factories running, because they rely heavily on Canadian made auto parts, while continuing to harm Canada’s auto assembly plants,” the union said in a statement.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford called the news of the forthcoming layoffs “extremely tough” for the Oshawa workers and their families.
“These are hardworking people who have helped build Ontario’s auto industry,” he said in a statement. “GM has reaffirmed its commitment to the Oshawa plant, which will continue building Ontario-made trucks for years to come. We will continue doing everything we can to support a strong future for the facility and its workers.”
Industry Minister Anita Anand added that she is “profoundly disappointed” by the news and said she has sent a letter to GM Canada’s president and managing director to seek “further clarity on internal perspectives in the midst of the evolving automotive market.”
Speaking to NEWSTALK 1010’s Moore in the Morning on Friday, Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said that the provincial government will do what it can to support its workers and manufacturers.
“I‘ve got my budget coming out in a couple of weeks. But this is the environment we’re in right now. This is a trade war that we did not ask for. We think its unjustified and uncalled for, but that’s the policy of a democratically-elected president.”
Bethlenfalvy didn’t reveal if his May 15 budget will include any sector specific stimulus spending, as Ford said would be necessary during the trade war and subsequent job losses.
Earlier this week, Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office predicted that Trump’s tariffs will result in 68,100 fewer jobs in Ontario in 2025.
Union calls impending layoffs ‘devastating’
Gray said that employees at the Oshawa plant received the news about the third shift cut early Friday morning.
“This is devastating,” Gray told CP24. “I mean, these folks build a high- quality truck, they’ve got great productivity, they’re dependable, they’re reliable. That truck should be here in Oshawa and we’re not okay with losing these units to the United States…we’re not going to accept our membership losing their jobs. We’re not accepting that.”
Currently, the Chevrolet Silverado is the only vehicle produced at the Oshawa facility.
In Early April, and in the wake of Trump’s auto tariffs, GM announced that it would hire an unspecified number of temporary workers at its Fort Wayne, Indiana location -- which also produces the Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks -- to ramp up production.
At the time, Unifor said that the Oshawa plant would continue to operate at “current production levels.” Later that month, GM said that it had cancelled shifts at the Oshawa plant temporarily due to a part shortage.
The levies have also had an impact on operations at the Windsor Assembly Plant, which was shut down for two weeks in April.
Speaking to CP24, Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter said that while the impact of the shift reduction is not lost on him, he is optimistic about the local economy’s resilience in the face of Friday’s development.
“We’ll still, hopefully, have about 2,500 people that will be on the two shifts at General Motors. I‘m optimistic that this is, once again, part of a storyline that our great city faces. We continue to be challenged on a regular basis, we continue to fight back and we continue to be successful and I have all the confidence in the world that we’ll be able to overcome this also.”
