Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, GM, UAW/Unions, Canada
GM may add car line to closing Canadian truck plant
Despite rising tensions (and a lawsuit) between General Motors and the Canadian Auto Workers union, the automaker may be interested in adding a new car line at its soon-to-closed truck plant in Oshawa, Ontario. Though that plant was originally scheduled to stay open a few more years, slumping sales of full-size trucks built there have forced GM to announce its early closure along with three other pickup and SUV plants. Since that announcement, union workers have barricaded GM Canada's headquarters for the last eight days in protest, which we'd imagine might make it difficult for GM management to negotiate with union officials... but what do we know?According to The Detroit News, however, GM has been talking with Ontario's Economic Development and Trade Minister, Sandra Pupatello, who says that the government is very interested in securing the new vehicle line as quickly as possible. Even if a decision is made in short order, it is likely the plant's 2,600 workers would be out of work for up to two years after the closes and before its ready again with new tooling for a passenger car line.
[Source: The Detroit News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Johnny 7:22PM (6/11/2008)
This is such BS!
GM cries a little after signing a new deal 2 weeks ago at the most efficient plant it has to get more taxpayer money.
I knew they had something up their sleeve.
This is bribery and blackmail in the first degree.
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Gardiner Westbound 7:25PM (6/11/2008)
The Oshawa truck plant will be converted to car production if the Ontario government throws good money after bad and gives GM another couple hundred million dollars.
GM can't sell the cars it is making now. Decades of second and third rate product will do that. What makes the government think people will buy the new production, or does it matter?
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LOs 7:36PM (6/11/2008)
GM has good cars coming down the pipeline, late yes, but they are coming. And if current figures are any window to the future, people will buy them.
Funny how everyone berates the car companies for not moving fast enough, yet when they do finally make moves (even if only spurred by global trends) people start complaining because things actually begin to affect them. The General is offering to keep using the plant, just make something different. Considering the pain-in-the-ass the CAW has been, I think it (CAW and Ontario) should take what it can get and stop bitching, or you'll all be out of jobs completely.
Peter L 7:37PM (6/11/2008)
Its amazing in the last 8 days Honda, Toyota and Nissan have announced that they will make fewer trucks and change to more cars in their N.American plants
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SPG 10:51PM (6/11/2008)
Amazing as in an amazingly good start?
Actually I think they all make good trucks but I'm happy to hear more cars and less trucks are on the way.
Keith Wakeham 10:11PM (6/11/2008)
This makes no sense at all. Oshawa Car plant has a consolidated line doing impala and allure/lacross and a brand new flex line that can build anything from sub compact car to small truck or suv. Only one shift going online at Flex and two shifts coming off truck. Make sense to put those people on the two other avaiable shifts on flex and build malibus in canada at the soon to be best manufacturing plant in North America.(truck was #1, Oshawa car currently #2)
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MachinaDC5 10:36PM (6/11/2008)
Eh?
...Couldn't resist.
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SPG 10:52PM (6/11/2008)
I always thought of it as more of an "Ay?" personally.
Silver Bullet 11:24PM (6/11/2008)
Really .. we don't say it as often you you might think. I don't even think I said it once today. I guess it depends where you live.
Silver Bullet 10:50PM (6/11/2008)
Union really needs to get a life ... your plant is the most expensive to run and you're building something that people aren't buying .. yes your plant is going to close get the f over it.
(yes I'm from Canada ...)
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Illis Billis 4:22AM (6/12/2008)
That comment has no intelligence at all to it. Anyone can talk out their @ss buddy.
Kaptain75329 10:03AM (6/12/2008)
he's not your buddy, guy...
jesda 7:38AM (6/12/2008)
Deals like this are how cars like the Buick Century piled up on dealer lots a few years ago.
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Borger 6:57AM (6/13/2008)
GM needs to move car production to the USA to Unions like UAW Local 435 out of the Wilmington plant, who never give GM a hard time. GM needs to start rewarding their Unions and Plants that play ball and stop rewarding the CAW for their illegal blockade of GM Canada Headquarters.
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somechick 11:23AM (6/14/2008)
A contract had been signed. I very much doubt that companies decide to close plants in only 2 weeks. GM probably didn't sign the contract in good faith (i.e. they probably wanted to close the plant for a while and went and signed the contract knowing this). Everyone should be concerned about this because if contracts can't be upheld, then what's the point? I am normally anti-union but I'm supporting the CAW just because of this one thing alone. And *this* is probably why the CAW is upset. If there wasn't a sense of having signed a contract in bad faith, the union would probably just accept the loss and try to do damage control. They have, in fact, been accepting losses quite well with the changing markets (several other plants have closed and you don't see them protesting).
If GM wants out of the contract, they need to come up with something other than "so yeah we just signed a deal, but oh hey, we're closing your plant."
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Ken H 5:24PM (6/14/2008)
The CAW and the province of Ontario are just whiners. GM for years has produced poor quality cars, the CAW continues to expect that GM should pay labor costs that average $67 per hour and Ontario (and the Federal Government) continue to throw in money for these losers. The best strategy might be to drive GM out of Ontario and attract some more quality auto makers like Honda and Toyota.
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