General Motors is laying off another 700 employees at its Oshawa plant as the automaker cuts the third shift at the facility on Friday.
General Motors is laying off another 700 employees at its Oshawa plant as the automaker cuts the third shift at the facility on Friday, the union representing workers says.
Kathleen O’Keefe, Unifor’s communications director, told CP24 that 700 GM employees and 300 people who work for supplier companies will lose their jobs.
In a statement posted online on Wednesday, the union said the move comes as GM shifts jobs to the United States.
“Despite the trade war, GM posted $10 billion in profits in North America even after losing billions in tariffs. Autoworkers are in the middle of a deepening trade war,” the statement read.
Unifor added that there are “huge concerns” about the impact of a new deal that will allow 20 per cent of the electric car market to include made-in-China electric vehicles.
GM initially said it would cut the third shift last year but later reversed course, saying the company would operate three shifts at the plant until early 2026.
Speaking about the layoffs at an unrelated news conference on Thursday morning, Premier Doug Ford said the province has a plan to provide support to workers.
“We are going to make sure they have opportunities in the defence sector, life sciences sector, other areas, and we will be there for them 24/7,” Ford said, calling GM’s decision “very disappointing.”
“This goes back to our point that we have to move quicker and faster and make sure that the federal government comes in to support not only these workers but the overall auto sector. We have to be more competitive. We have to get rid of the EV mandate to make ourselves more competitive.”