More than 1,000 workers will lose their jobs this week due to layoffs at General Motors
The company has eliminated the third shift at its Oshawa plant due to US tariffs
Over 1,000 automotive workers will be let go as of tomorrow due to layoffs at General Motors, according to Unifor, the union representing GM workers. The union’s website says hundreds of employees at the company’s Oshawa plant will be affected by the tariff-related layoffs, as well as hundreds of others who work throughout the automotive supply chain. The grim news follows an announcement that the Oshawa plant will eliminate its third shift.
“General Motors has made a clear decision to cave to Donald Trump rather than stand up for its loyal Canadian workforce, making the workers in Oshawa pay for that appeasement with their jobs,” said Unifor national president Lana Payne in a statement. “It is misguided for General Motors to think it can get away with consistently diminishing their production footprint in Canada and still be the number one seller of vehicles in the Canadian marketplace. GM’s decision is not only short sighted but fails to recognize the mood of Canadians and Canadian workers.”
The statement notes that, following a US-imposed 25 per cent tariff on Canadian-made vehicles, GM increased production capacity at its Indiana plant, which led to cutting the third shift here in Oshawa.
The union said it presented a “viable plan” to GM to try and keep the third shift but that the plan was rejected.
Speaking to reporters this morning, Premier Doug Ford called the layoffs “very disappointing.”
Related: Doug Ford wants Canadians to boycott Chinese-made EVs
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
