‘It’s just weird’: Oshawa sends off GM plant as thousands scramble for jobs
Closure comes nearly a year after General Motors announced facility’s end as part of a broad cost-savings initiative
Closure comes nearly a year after General Motors announced facility’s end as part of a broad cost-savings initiative
With rounds of drinks being poured at the bar next to the General Motors assembly plant in Oshawa, Canada – and a Santa Claus chatting up customers – the gathering could have been mistaken for a celebration.
Instead, it marked the final day of production for the sprawling truck plant that has left thousands scrambling for jobs in the new year.
The closure in the city 31 miles north-east of Toronto comes nearly a year after GM first announced the end of the plant, as part of a broad cost-savings initiative, prompting outrage from workers, unions – and the country’s prime minister.
After final truck rolls off the assembly line, nearly 2,600 jobs at the company will disappear, as well has thousands of others tied to supply chains.
“GM demanded concessions from workers and from retirees, which they got.
“GM demanded concessions from workers and from retirees, which they got.
And they’re still leaving,” said Tony Leah, a maintenance mechanic at GM and union representative.
The union won a small victory in May, after GM agreed to keep 300 jobs at the plant and convert part of the facility into an advanced technology testing track.
The union won a small victory in May, after GM agreed to keep 300 jobs at the plant and convert part of the facility into an advanced technology testing track.
“GM wants to tell you that they are not closing the plant, that they are transitioning it to some kind of parts production. But they are leaving 95% of that plant empty, with all of the equipment in it,” he said.
Leah is also a spokesperson for Green Jobs Oshawa, a group that has lobbied for the plant to be used for the production of electric vehicles.
In Orion Township, Michigan, GM plans to add 400 jobs as part of a push for electric vehicles. And in Lordstown, Ohio, the site of another plant closure, a buyer has purchased the facility with plans to assemble electric vehicles.
“We need electric vehicles … so that we can actually do something to confront the climate crisis,” said Leah. “And it can be done here, that would be an incredible start.”
