Canadian labor union Unifor wants General Motors Canada to bring vehicle production back to its Oshawa Assembly plant in southern Ontario.
Speaking to Automotive News Canada, Unifor president Jerry Dias says he plans to push GM to bring the vehicle production line at Oshawa Assembly back online as part of its ongoing contract negotiations with the automaker.
Oshawa Assembly
“You’ve got this incredible paint shop there. We should talk about utilizing it,” Dias said this week. “It’s worth hundreds of millions of dollars. We’ll see. I’m not making any outlandish predictions. I’m not going to say anything foolish.”
The GM Oshawa Assembly plant shut down in December of 2019 after GM ended production of the Chevrolet Impala and Cadillac XTS sedans. Some of the floor space in the sprawling plant is used to manufacture parts, an operation that employs about 265 hourly workers, but the rest of the plant remains offline.
Contract negotiations between GM and Unifor are expected to resume this week, with the union having set a strike deadline of November 4th at 11:59 p.m. In addition to securing future product at Oshawa Assembly, the union is also hoping to lock down a new product for the GM St, Catharines Powertrain plant in Ontario. The plant currently builds GM’s six-speed automatic transmission, but with the aging six-speed set to go out of production within the next 18 months, Unifor is hoping to lock down a replacement contract.
In addition to the six-speed automatic transmission, the St. Catharines plant also builds the 5.3L L84 V8 and 6.2L L87 V8 engines for use in its various full-size truck and SUV models.
GM’s only remaining vehicle assembly plant in Canada, the GM CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, has a contract separate to the Unifor one being negotiated currently, which does not expire until 2021. The CAMI plant currently builds the Chevrolet Equinox crossover.
One possibility could be for the CAMI plant to receive a new product that could support production of a new powertrain, transmission or electric motor at the St. Catharines plant, which is situated nearby, Unifor Local president Greg Brady told AN Canada this week.
“Hopefully, CAMI will get some sort of EV or new product and that product will cause some new employment for the St. Catharines facility,” he said.
Unifor has already ratified deals with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Ford Motor Company, which both have larger workforces in Canada than GM. The union’s deal with Ford made headlines, with the automaker committing to $1.95 billion in Canadian investments to bring battery electric vehicle production to its Oakville assembly plant in the Greater Toronto Area.
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Comments
If GM feels a need they can let them bid on new programs like any other plant
The real issue here is this like Lordstown are the two largest plants GM has and they are not as efficient anymore.
GM has more capacity than needed and large older plants are just at a disadvantage.
Too much capacity due to terrible designers and cost cutting leading to poor sales.
ON NO IT’S MARKETINGS FAULT! Couldn’t possibly be the product.
I still like the SUV’s and Traverse. Hopeful they’ll fix the trucks.
If GM feels a need they can let them bid on new programs like any other plant
The real issue here is this like Lordstown are the two largest plants GM has and they are not as efficient anymore.
GM has more capacity than needed and large older plants are just at a disadvantage.
The people at Oshawa know how to put vehicles together. I had a 2010 Camaro that I had for 5 years and a 2015 Impala that I had for 4 years and had no problems what so ever with both vehicles. Only oil changes and tire rotations.
How about Trailblazer and Encore GX being built at Oshawa?
I’d love to see that happen. Not a knock against South Korea, but those two should be built in North America somewhere as well. Oshawa would be a great fit.
How much of the current profit margin would be eliminated by moving production to Canada?
Bring something like encore GX and Trailblazer there.
The recent Flint investment may have something to do with Oshawa getting a vehicle short term
Until EV production starts in Canada during the next contract like Ford and FCA
Oshawa GM Assembly plant can produce hydrogen buses and trucks to meet Ottawa’s green mobilty program.
Oshawa GM Assembly plant can produce hydrogen fuel cell buses and trucks to meet Ottawa’s green mobility program.
Sorry to say it but. They won’t come back as long as there is a union. Unions had their time get rid of the union cut the cost of manufacturing, price of competing with Mexico and other countries that pay less to employees.
You realize they have a union in Mexico and the US right? As well as a union in China and Brazil. Every gm plant is represented by a union! Now Toyota and Honda in Ontario have asked to join unifor!!
Wish they would build the terrain at oshawa plant but we know it to stay in Mexico give jobs back to oshawa region would be nice !! Bring any thing back but the unions are to greedy !!!
Why is Oshawa entitled to production over a facility in Mexico?
Better quality being built in Oshawa!! Oshawa had the number one quality out of any gm facility in the world with every vehicle we built!!
4% of the cost of the vehicle is labour costs!! So to say the union is greedy is wrong! It’s the unions job to to the most they can for the workers!! We took a 10 year wage freeze to help out the company is 2008-2009 depression and now they need to give us back the product we deserve so we can go back to building the number 1 quality vehicular in the world!!
I know one thing vehicals getting way to expensive for middle class workers.
Norm you are aboustly right the average decent vehicle now day is 40 plus and with every brand getting slowly out of reach for the average hourly worker !!!
When GM Oshawa becomes hydrogen bus and truck assembly plant, Oshawa Durham Region will be the centre of hydrogen economy. Pickering Nuclear Generating Station becomes retrofitted to produce hydrogen fuel as cheap as diesel oil at refuelling stations. A feasibility study with Ontario Tech University on the Durham Hydrogen Economy Hub. GM is advised to come back to Oshawa to reopen the GM plant. Federal programs will fund the development. 20,000 high paying new jobs can be expected.
Back in late 19 seventies, I was at a singles bar in Warren Mi talking to a couple of guys that both had Monty Carlos. After I told them I was a CDN they preceded to tell me that the reason they bought the M C’s was the fact that they were built at Oshawa Assembly because of their excellent high quality! They always had great rep. for quality!
Yup they did late 60 s camaro z/28 nice machine car collectors like Canadian gm muscle cars
Jobs in the US NOT Canada!
Canada needs jobs to like the U S
GM is a US company bailed out by US taxpayers. The jobs deserve to be here in America not in Canada or Mexico.
The Canadian gov. bailed out GM Canada not the USA. Was over 10 billion
So you saying we don’t deserve gm jobs in Canada but I do agree with you about Mexico I want to buy a GMC Terrain Denali and really don’t like the fact it’s built in Mexico . That being said I had a Volkswagen Jetta years ago and it was built in Mexico lots of silly issues with GMC Terrain was built in Ingersoll ont Canada but if gm built the terrain in the U S i wouldn’t have a problem with that
Look at which cities have borne the brunt of plant closures/job losses. Flint, Dayton, Lordstown, Oshawa. What is the common factor here? Radical Locals that put the boot to the company whenever they had an opportunity. All other things being equal why wouldn’t GM ditch the less cooperative ?
I agree
Bottom line it would be nice if jobs would come back to oshawa the community would thrive oshawa need jobs just like plants do in states it seems like there are more Japanese interest then North America interest my family always purchase gm cats never imports people say imports are better but I strongly disagree I’m looking to purchase a Terrain denali looked at Honda Nissan and Kia Toyota for all there s u v but iStill think l build quality is better you open a door on a import and your scratching your head but you open a door on a gm or gmc product you have a smile on your face !!!
Why not build the all new hummer in Oshawa.
Great idea would be nice