The recent agreement reached by Unifor and General Motors to bring parts production and some metal stamping work to Oshawa Assembly saved 300 jobs at the soon to be shuttered facility, but it could eventually create even more.
A bulletin posted by Unifor on the new agreement indicates the worker’s union is expecting “significant growth” at Oshawa Assembly in coming years and says as many as 500 workers could one day be employed there.
GM Canada and Unifor reach agreement
“I feel confident that, based upon what I’m hearing, we’re going to see a lot more jobs that are being created in this new division, more than the 300 that has been announced,” he told the publication.
GM indicated there was room to grow in Oshawa when it first announced the Unifor agreement last week, saying it was adding 300 jobs with the “potential to grow and generate significant additional jobs in the coming years, as the business attracts new customers.”
The agreement will also see GMÂ invest $170 million CAD in the plant. This will be used to retool the plant for parts production and also so it can perform other tasks such as vehicle sub-assembly and metal stamping. A new advanced vehicle test track will also be constructed on the site, which will allow the automaker to expand the operations of its technology center in nearby Markham.
Artists’ rendition of the AV test track.
Unifor president Jerry Dias said the union did all it could to save jobs at the plant, and while the 300 jobs are a far cry from the 3,000 that will be lost, the union is taking anything they can get.
“By maintaining a footprint in Oshawa, and keeping the plant intact, we save hundreds of jobs and this gives us the ability to build and create new jobs in the future,” he said. “We are in a much better position than we were five months ago when the plant was closing.”
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Source: Automotive News Canada
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