General Motors To Shed 600 Jobs At Canada Plant As 2018 Terrain Production Moves To Mexico
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After bitter negotiations and surrounding the Oshawa assembly plant between General Motors and Canadian union Unifor, the Ingersoll assembly plant will now be subject so layoffs.
Automotive News reports GM will cut up to 600 positions from the CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario as production of the 2018 GMC Terrain shifts to Mexico. The cuts will be “permanent in nature,” according to Unifor Local 88 President Dan Borthwick.
Unifor President, Jerry Dias, lamented the decision, saying the production shift “reeks of corporate greed.”
“It is not based on sales, it is an another example of how good jobs are being shifted out of Canada for cheaper labor in Mexico and Unifor will not let it happen without a fight,” Dias said in a statement. “The Equinox and Terrain are incredibly successful vehicles and given current market demand, there is no justification for layoffs at the CAMI facility.”
GM stated the 2018 Terrain would indeed be built in Mexico following its debut to make room for additional 2018 Chevrolet Equinox production capacity at its Canadian facilities. The CAMI facility will continue to build the current Equinox until July before that model is phased out.
“It was always known we’d have to phase out this older model [Equinox] and it only makes sense for CAMI, operationally, to focus on this vehicle. After July, they’ll focus on just one product line,” GM spokeswoman Jennifer Wright said. “This is just a natural course of business.”
The jobs could return, though, according to Wright. It largely depends on the success of the 2018 Equinox, as GM expects major growth in the segment.
Two years ago, GM announced it would invest $560 million into the CAMI facility to produce the 2018 Equinox. Those investments have all gone according to plan.
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I’m a bit confused , first the local 88’s President Dan Borthwick said the layoffs are ” permanent in nature ” . And then the GM Spokeswoman states ” this is just a natural course of business ” and depending on how sales are the jobs could return because GM expects major growth in the segment !?!
After spending $560 million dollars at the facility , either the body , paint and trim shops were completely revamped with the latest automation or GM may just have plans for another vehicle to replace Terrain .
I’m all for unions fighting to retain jobs for its membership but Canada or Unifor ( CAW ) have always had a love hate relationship . They should just get to the business of building a high quality Nox in the hopes that those 600 people do get called back .
It’s expensive to build basically the same vehicle in two different facilities . What else will be built along side the Terrain .
I guess Mary Barra didn’t hear about the 20% tariff . 😉
Sales of the current 8+year old Equinox have done very well, in spite of being long overdue for a complete redesign.
Looking at the 2018 Equinox, It’s clear to see that GM has made a significant investment in this completely all new Equinox.
The Equinox should now turn into a very competitive offering within the small to mid sized crossover/SUV segments.
I would bet on higher production/sales volume for this new model, resulting in a call back of those 600 layoffs.