UAW Strike In U.S. May Lead To Temp Layoffs In Canadian Auto Sector

The United Auto Workers strike in the United States could lead to thousands of temporary layoffs in the Canadian auto manufacturing sector, Unifor boss Jerry Dias said Tuesday.

With General Motors‘ North American plants having ground to halt following the UAW walkout Sunday, the automaker’s Canadian plants, such as Oshawa Assembly, St. Catharines Propulsion and Ingersoll/CAMI, could face a parts shortage in the coming days. This may force GM Canada to serve some of its laborers with temp layoffs until the UAW and GM can reach an agreement on the other side of the border.

“Overall, and depending on what happens, this could be up to 5,000 jobs,” Dias told Yahoo! Finance Canada.

CAMI in Ingersoll, Ontario

Oshawa Assembly produces the Cadillac XTS and Chevrolet Impala and completes final assembly of the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado. CAMI produces the Chevrolet Equinox, however, GM recently cut back on production of the crossover at both its CAMI and its San Luis Potosi plant in Mexico. St. Catharines propulsion builds certain V6 and V8 engine blocks.

A GM Canada spokesperson told Yahoo Finance Canada that it would “continue to monitor the situation closely,” in coming weeks, though it did not comment on what kind of impact the strike may have on its production operation or its business.

GM and the UAW continued to negotiate through to Tuesday, though with the two parties still reportedly quite far from a reaching a deal, the strike may last from two to four weeks, those close to the UAW told USA Today on Tuesday.

Subscribe to GM Authority for up-to-date UAW news as the strike continues and continuing GM news coverage.

Source: Yahoo!

Sam loves to write and has a passion for auto racing, karting and performance driving of all types.

Sam McEachern

Sam loves to write and has a passion for auto racing, karting and performance driving of all types.

View Comments

  • The UAW will probably also lead to thousands of layoffs in the US as their employers shift production to Mexico to avoid their nonsense.

    GM’s foreign competitors don’t have to deal with the cancer that is UAW leadership. Those competitors are stronger than ever.

Recent Posts