GM plans to shut down its auto assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario, in order to focus on hybrids and zero emissions vehicles, resulting in around 2,500 job cuts, according to reports that began circulating on Sunday.
GM is expected to make an announcement on Monday morning Ontario time, while an official familiar with the decision confirmed to the Associated Press on late on Sunday that the announcement would be about a plant closure.
The General Motors Oshawa Assembly Plant has been building vehicles in Oshawa since 1953, GM says on its website. Before 1953, the facility produced McLaughlin Buicks and was one of six locations building Chevrolet before it merged with GM in 1918.
Canada's largest private sector union, Unifor, said in a statement on Sunday that it had received notification from General Motors that the company would make a major announcement on Monday that would impact its global operations.
"While the union does not have complete details of the overall announcement we have been informed that, as of now, there is no product allocated to the Oshawa Assembly Plant past December 2019," the union said.
"Based on commitments made during 2016 contract negotiations, Unifor does not accept this announcement and is immediately calling on GM to live up to the spirit of that agreement," the union said, noting that it would be holding a discussion with GM on Monday.
John Henry, the mayor of Oshawa, said early on Monday on Twitter that he hadn't talked to GM yet, and that a meeting was scheduled to begin at 09:30 a.m. Ontario time between the management and workers.
Related: A Gamechanger In European Gas Markets
"We still do not know if 'no product after Dec 2019' equals 'closure', Henry wrote in his tweet.
On Sunday, the mayor told The Canadian Press that he hopes reports of the closure are "just a rumor."
Dr. Colin Carrie, Member of Parliament for Oshawa, said in a statement on Sunday that he was gravely concerned for the potential effect of the closure on Oshawa and on Ontario.
"The closure of this plant will have a ripple effect like we have never seen before. There are tens of thousands of feeder jobs that originate from this plant alone," Carrie said.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More
Comments