GM to cut 1,000 jobs in Oshawa
The housing crisis is being blamed for decreased truck sales. In light of the credit crunch, fewer loans are being disbursed and fewer construction workerss are actually at work. With GMC Sierra and Chevy Silverado sales taking the hit, GM has decided to cut a shift at its Oshawa, ON plant in Canada. In a factory that employs 3,000 people, that's a direct loss of 1,000. The indirect job losses won't be known for a while, as GM's suppliers and the businesses around the plant make cuts of their own. It represents the first time the plant has run just two shifts since the early nineties.
The move is more regrettable news for the CAW following Ford's closing its Windsor plant and Chrysler's plan to shed 2,000 union jobs in Ontario. With 85% of the Oshawa plant's output coming south of the border, the 7% drop in sales for the two trucks has made them especially susceptible. The potential light on the horizon is that GM plans to build a state-of-the-art factory next to the Oshawa truck plant to build 500,000 cars per year -- but only after closing one of the two car plants that are currently there. It's quite a fall for the region; GM's Oshawa Plant No. 1 was the most efficient plant in North America in 2004.
Thanks for the tip, Peter!
[Source: Report on Business via Auto North]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Aetius 8:58AM (8/31/2007)
I think it's irresponsible that you find people losing their jobs funny, just because you have a anti-domestic vehicles bias. Get a life! These are cars. You buying a import does not make you a superior person.
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Gardiner Westbound 9:06AM (8/31/2007)
The Detroit-3 jobs were safe when consumers had no alternative to their ill-designed, poor quality products and unacceptable after sales service. No more!
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SkiD666 9:35AM (8/31/2007)
GM is not losing market share and their trucks are not "ill-designed, poor quality products and unacceptable after sales service", they are cutting production because OVERALL sales are down for full size trucks. Expect everyone to lower production of trucks in '08.
akns 3:05PM (8/31/2007)
"Expect everyone to lower production of trucks in '08."
That is flat wrong.
Just watch how Toyota '08 sales will compare with '07 sales.
robz4 9:09AM (8/31/2007)
People like you is what is wrong with this country. I do believe that GM is trying to improve the company and their cars and unfortunately sometimes that requires painful measures .You suck !
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robz4 9:22AM (8/31/2007)
By the way I was replying to " Ivey League Educated ".
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The Other Bob 10:25PM (9/01/2007)
Just ignore him. He's a troll who is feeding off of people who get too excited.
Barney 9:23AM (8/31/2007)
GM is closing a plant in a foreign country that produces product for the American consumer. It's the Canadian worker that loses the job. Ironically, Americans are blaming the consumer for these people losing work. Perhaps these same people can understand why Canadians are not dedicated to only the American vehicle.
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J.Crew 9:25AM (8/31/2007)
You are a c*ck sucker! People are losing their jobs and you think it is funny. Get a life. This has nothing to do with GM and your personal perception. They have had 3 shifts running for almost 15 years... yeah, because of poor sales?? Your economy and poor lending practices by crappy mortgage companies lead to this problem. Get a real government that works for the people and not big business you a$$ clown.
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J.Crew 9:36AM (8/31/2007)
We are tied at the hip to the USA and the domestic north american car companies. We too have multiple transplants producing cars for Honda, Suzuki, and Toyota as well. It is very much the same story here as it is down in the USA. We try to support the product we build like anyone else.
Unfortunately GM is doing what it has to do to keep its inventory in line with market demand. They would only be hurting themselves if they overproduced and had to put more money on the hood like Toyota is doing right now to keep its line moving.
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KJC 8:00PM (8/31/2007)
WTF?? Your previous post insulted Americans and our government, "Your economy and poor lending practices by crappy mortgage companies lead to this problem. Get a real government that works for the people and not big business you a$$ clown." Now your all pro USA?
GM is an AMERICAN company! GM puts incentives on most of their cars every year. There is cash on the hood of the forementioned Chevy/GMC trucks now.
J.Crew 9:18PM (8/31/2007)
Apparently you need to have an education to understand my comments. Read up on world events, go to school - apparently not an "IVEY" school, but an "IVY" school - and then think for yourself a bit and you may catch on. Read my reply from 11:15am KJC. As for the incentives GM has on the hoods of the trucks, Toyota still has way more cash on the hood for their inferior products right now. They want to pay to keep their lines moving even though their trucks are not as good. They too would have to layoff workers if they did not pay customers to take their products right now.
the marais 9:56AM (8/31/2007)
This whole "GM products from the 1980s and 1990s were complete and utter crap" line, repeated a million times on every auto website, has to stop. Everyone is suffering from revisionist history-itis somewhat. All cars, even imports, have gotten better, at around the same pace, since the 1980s. Consumers demand more from their car purchases these days than they did back then.
This whole "my 1988 Accord was light years ahead of domestics of the time" line needs to be backed up with something more than empirical assertions. GM made some very interesting cars in the 1980s to the mid-1990s (fiero, monte carlo, riveria, GNX, trans am / firebird, camaro, corvette, etc. etc etc.). The Japanese imports of the time were by and large boring small and mid-sized sedans (again with exceptions like the Toyota Supra etc.). GM also made some very bad decisions as well -- especially in designing cars with a limited lifetime from the get-go, badge engineering, etc. One has to remember that especially in the 1980s, as it is more or less today, U.S. vehicles were much much cheaper to fix than imports.
Point is: today is today. Very few people working for GM in 1982 are working for them today. Stop the hating!
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RicardoHead 10:02AM (8/31/2007)
J Crew, please belive me when I say I feel sorry for any job loss anywhere in the world, and until recently have had nothing against Canadians. I still don't have anything against Canadians but am tired of statements like those in your post above.
Lately, I have met too many Canadians (and Europeans) who seem to hate me before they know me for the mere fact that I am a US citizen. It is stupid and it is silly to hate for that reason- essentially akin to racism - but it is also true that Canadians do this. As such I admit part of me thinks "well, if you hate the people that butter your bread, then you have no right to complain when they cease to do so." I know it's wrong for me to think that way but it is a natural reaction to what I got first.
I doubt you were complaining about those poor lending practices by crappy mortgage companies when they were keeping the US economy primed and thus keeping this plant in Oshawa running 3 shifts. I was. I had ample opportunity to exploit those practices and never once did, and today I am reasonably insulated from their after-effects.
As for the US government, you are nobody to dictate what we need to do, just as I don't dictate to you and yours. Someday you may learn that hating politicians is a waste of time and energy, as is supporting them, because they pretty much all do the same thing and are puppets of "big business" in one way or another. That's because they realize that in general what is good for business is good for society overall. It's always been that way and always will be. If you don't believe that then you should be happy GM is cutting production at this facility in Oshawa because it is indicative of a difficult market for GM (aka Big Business) which means that evil business is hurting, and what hurts business is good for the little guy, right? Righhhhhhhht.
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TriShield 10:09AM (8/31/2007)
the marais, you are exactly right. GM has made great cars in every decade, and some bad cars as well.
Their 1986 - 1992 3800 cars were some of the most reliable and nicely made family cars on the road. My family owned quite a few of them and they all were comfortable, got over 30mpg freeway and went well past 150,000 miles with nothing but oil changes.
Anyone that thinks the new Silverado and Sierra are subpar products are as hopelessly clueless as the "domestic buyers" they slander on automotive sites like this. It's sad that any American would cheerlead the decline of a proud American company that employs thousands of Americans (and people globally) and creates wealth for our economy.
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Den in IN 11:05AM (8/31/2007)
Dude, I hope this is a persona you put on to get flamed and not your real beliefs. If they are you have issues, real banal issues.
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J.Crew 11:15AM (8/31/2007)
Read other post down the page and you will see that I entirely understand what GM is doing and why they are doing it. I have no problem with any US citizen as I have lots of American friends and live in a border community. We are allowed to voice different opinions and still be civil. To say that my statements are racist in any way is foolish and obviously you missed the point. I am against anyone who laughs at people losing their jobs for reasons out of their control - ie. faulty lending practices. Those lending practices were abused by people which lead to the current credit crunch. They should have never been allowed to loan money in such a loose way as you can now see where it leads. The economy would have been better off had they used more moderate practices over a longer period of time when loaning out funds to people with poor credit. I work for a lending institution and do fully understand the risks involved with over extending credit to people.
As for politics - It is sad to read that you feel that way as our freedoms on both sides of our borders come from having such a politcal system in place. The problem is that the system needs to be properly monitored for abuses. It seems the recent US government has decided to go its own route in many areas that conflict with smart policy. They are racking up record levels of debt (kind of similar to those lending practices) on a war that should have never taken place. Iraq was not the reason for 9/11. Your government put your people in a very bad position and I feel sorry for every soldier doing their job on a rogue mission based on false facts that your government created. I love the USA and many of its people, I don't agree with its current foreign policies. There is a big difference between the two and to think otherwise is foolish. It is those policies your government has used which creates the perception you have that others around the world dislike you. I am sure those people do not hate the people of the USA, they hate what your government is doing. Your people put that government in place based on your votes, or lack of votes for the opposing party.
It is also a shame that Big Business favors exporting your manufacturing sector overseas. You have the only government in the world that does not realize the importance of having a healthy domestic automotive industry. The cards are stacked against GM, Ford, and Chrysler in many areas with little to no support from any corner of the government minus the senators from the states affected by the loss of jobs by these companies. I am rooting for the US manufacturers to turn things around regardless of where they produce their product. They too will continue to export their jobs and begin to import more products until it becomes profitable to produce vehicles in their own home market again. Welcome to the global economy.
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motorman 12:43PM (8/31/2007)
the problem is buyers that did not really need a pickup who bought pickups because they were "cool" are now buying car with better fuel mileage. also a lot of these auto workers do not drive vehicles build by GM,check parking lots at these factories
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Yggdrasilly 12:43PM (8/31/2007)
Gee, what's with all these nuclear physicists commenting on this issue--slow day at the Max Planck Institute?
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M. Hardgrove 1:05PM (8/31/2007)
1000 jobs is nothing compaired to what will happen when the industries move production to China. The fate of the American auto industry doesn't have a future with the employee making 30+ dollars and hour, plus healthcare/retirement (in most cases). Vs most european and asian manafactures that don't have such "Legacy costs". Plus the added benifit of unions for any labor relations issue and possibilities of strikes, hurting both the workers and the brand they work for. The future of the U.S. auto industry is outsourcing to Asia and employing someone that you can pay a few dollars a day, and train to do the exact same job without paying for healthcare and without worry of any type of union to stop production.
Then again you can have companies like Toyota that employee lots of non-union temp workers for $13-$14 an hour in places like Georgetown, Ky. No company provided insurance, no union to worry about labor issues, and if you cause problems or are not to their standards, they will just replace you with someone that would love to make $13-$14 an hour (where the average job pays $6-$7 starting out with a high school education). Now they do hire people on and use the temp agencies to hire from, however, many work for years before becoming actual Toyota employees.
The future of the big 3 lies in many empty factories in the U.S. and Canada, unfortunately, and the days of walking into a job that you can retire in 30 years making 30ish dollars an hour is over.
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