The day Oshawa, Ont., autoworkers have dreaded for months has arrived, as GM Canada is poised to cut a shift at the city’s plant, costing over a thousand workers their jobs.
Up to 1,200 workers throughout the auto supply chain are expected to complete their final shift on Friday as the company scales back its Canadian operations, according to the union president who represents them.
GM Canada confirmed Thursday approximately 500 of those people are its employees.
“We did everything we could … we’ve made our arguments to General Motors,” said Jeff Gray, Unifor Local 222 president, on Wednesday.
GM is cutting one of three shifts at the plant, which ends at 6:30 a.m. Seniority rules will apply, Gray said — meaning high-seniority members will be bumped to the remaining shifts, while lower-seniority members across all three shifts will lose their jobs.
Gray said these workers will be left in a “heartbreaking” position as they walk into their shift just like any other day, while knowing they won’t have a job next week.
“You feel very nervous and anxious that you can continue to provide a living for yourself and your family,” said Gray.
GM issued a statement Thursday saying it has worked with the union to provide supports for the workers who are being laid off, including what it calls “comprehensive separation packages, retirement support and other benefits.”
Spokesperson Ariane Souza Pereira said the plant is going back to two shifts while “continuing preparations to build the next generation of gas‑powered full‑size pickups.”
Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said workers who have been laid off will get opportunities in other sectors, including defence and life sciences.
GM caving to Trump, national union says
The Detroit-based automotive manufacturer said it was cutting a shift at the plant in May. That announcement came a month after U.S. President Donald Trump announced tariffs targeting the auto sector.
At the time, spokesperson Jennifer Wright told CBC Toronto that “forecasted demand and the evolving trade environment” were behind the cut.
GM Canada’s latest statement doesn’t mention tariffs. Still, Unifor National President Lana Payne said GM “has made a clear decision to cave to Donald Trump” in a statement on Thursday.
She said GM is making Oshawa workers “pay for that appeasement with their jobs.”
While GM cuts a shift in Oshawa, the company is adding 250 temporary workers to its plant in Fort Wayne, Ind. Both the Oshawa and Fort Wayne plants build the Chevrolet Silverado.
Layoffs at the Oshawa plant were initially slated to take place in November, but were delayed to the end January.
That delay gave union officials more time to lobby the federal government to secure a trade deal with the United States and push for GM to reverse its shift reduction.
In Thursday’s statement, Unifor said it gave GM a “viable plan” to keep the third shift until the union and GM entered contract negotiations this fall — but GM rejected this plan.
When the shift cut was first announced, Unifor said around 2,000 workers would be laid off. Gray said that number has since gone down to between 1,100 and 1,200 workers, due to work done by in-plant representation.
But earlier this month, Gray called on national union leaders to step up their support for workers, saying auto jobs across the province are “disappearing.”
“From the eyes of the membership, the pushback hasn’t been enough,” he told CBC Radio’s Metro Morning.
Unifor Local 222 president says Unifor national isn’t doing enough to protect jobs in Canada’s auto industry. Christian D’Avino sat down with him as union members face layoffs later this month.
Speaking Wednesday, Gray said the local union will continue to advocate on behalf of workers to bring more jobs to Oshawa.
He said plans are underway to create programming that retrains autoworkers who have been laid off, hosted in the past in Oshawa and other parts of Ontario at locations known as action centres.
This programming may include sessions on resume writing skills and basic computer skills, he said.
“We will do everything in our power to make sure that is up and running as fast as possible and help members through the transition,” Gray said.
Ford says workers will get opportunities in other sectors
GM’s layoffs come the same day the prime minister is set to meet with Canada’s premiers in Ottawa, ahead of a busy year that will see a mandatory review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico-Agreement (CUSMA).
Ford said there’s a “plan” to support Oshawa workers who have lost their jobs, speaking on Thursday morning ahead of the meeting.
“We’re going to make sure they have opportunities in the defence sector, life science sector, other areas, and we’ll be there for them 24/7,” he said.
Ford addressed Prime Minister Mark Carney directly, saying the federal government needs to support not only GM workers in Oshawa, but the auto sector overall.
“We have to be more competitive, get rid of the EV mandate to make ourselves more competitive, and there’s my message to the prime minister,” he said.
Canada’s leaders have met periodically over the last year to discuss a path forward as Trump’s tariffs continue to punish Canadian industrial sectors.
General Motors has added 250 temporary jobs to its plant in Fort Wayne, Ind., as it prepares to cut hundreds of jobs in Oshawa in the new year. CBC’s Christian D’Avino visited Fort Wayne to learn more about where these jobs are going.
In December, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Congress that CUSMA has been “successful to a certain degree,” but there need to be changes before Trump agrees to extend it.
Greer listed a series of conditions that the administration wants met in order to continue the pact beyond its 2036 expiration date. Those include Canada’s dairy quota system and its online streaming law, which impacts tech giants like Netflix, Spotify and YouTube, and the ongoing boycotts in some provinces, Ontario included, of U.S. alcohol.
Trade talks with the United States and Mexico are expected to ramp up later this year as the CUSMA review gets into full swing.
Gray said he is eager to see what comes out of Wednesday’s meeting. He said he hopes the premiers encourage the federal government to “relentlessly pursue” the U.S. and renew CUSMA.
“And [then] we can go back to normal,” he said. “That’s the best answer for us, is go back to the United States, our most reliable, dependable trading partner for the last 100 years.”
Stiles, local politicians react
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles and Oshawa MPP Jennifer French released a joint statement on Thursday calling for an “action plan to deliver certainty for Oshawa workers.”
“How many more workers need to lose their livelihood before we have a serious auto strategy?” Stiles said.
Meanwhile, French said the fight for Oshawa’s auto future is not over and called on GM, Ford and Carney to plan that future.
“GM continues to take Oshawa for granted,” she said. “If they’re planning to sell GM cars here, they need to build them here.”
MP Rhonda Kirkland, who represents Oshawa, said she is “heartbroken” for the autoworkers who are losing their jobs, in a statement posted on social media on Thursday.
She said she will continue working to secure a trade deal with the U.S. that protects Canadian auto manufacturing jobs and ensures fair treatment for autoworkers, adding, “Oshawa deserves nothing less.”
Please see my official statement on the heartbreaking 1200 layoffs at the GM Oshawa Assembly Plant and my continued support for Oshawa’s resilient auto workers.<br><br>Thank you to Unifor Local 222 for your continued leadership, strength, and unwavering advocacy for your members during… <a href=”https://t.co/RbbIpaZKzv”>pic.twitter.com/RbbIpaZKzv</a>
—rhondaforoshawa
Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter said his thoughts are with GM employees and their families during this “difficult and challenging time” in a statement on Thursday.
“GM’s presence here has brought innovation, investment and thousands of jobs,” he said. “We’re proud of Oshawa’s automotive legacy that spans more than a century.”
Carter said the city will continue to work with GM, Unifor and the provincial and federal governments to bring “new advanced manufacturing opportunities and pathways to the great City of Oshawa.”
