GM increasing production at U.S. plant that makes same vehicle as Oshawa facility

Autoworker Angely Labo works in the body shop producing the Chevrolet Silverado, at the GM Assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario, on Tuesday, February 22 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

General Motors says that it plans to hire an unspecified number of temporary employees at its Fort Wayne, Indiana, assembly plant in the wake of a U.S. tariff on imported vehicles that took effect this week.

The assembly plant in Fort Wayne manufactures the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks.

The Silverado is currently the only vehicle produced at a GM assembly plant in Oshawa that employs more than 3,000 people.

GM also produces the Silverado and Sierra at its Silao Assembly Plant in Mexico.

“General Motors will be making operational adjustments at Fort Wayne Assembly, including hiring temporary employees, to support current manufacturing and business needs,” a statement from GM notes. “We continuously update and revise production schedules as part of our standard process of evaluating and aligning to manage vehicle inventory.”

A spokesperson for GM told CTV News that no physical upgrades are being made to the plant in Fort Wayne as a result of the hiring. The spokesperson said that the temporary workers will “support some additional production” at the plant and help to “provide backfill for employees during their summer vacations.”

In a statement, Unifor National President Lana Payne said that the Oshawa Assembly Plant “continues to operate at current production levels.”

Payne said that the union will “continue to be engaged with General Motors and fully expects all automakers to maintain their Canadian footprints.”

Premier Doug Ford was asked about the news during an availability in Barrie on Thursday afternoon but did not directly address it, instead speaking to the trade war with the U.S. more broadly.

Ford has in the past repeatedly warned that assembly lines will shut down as a result of Trump’s tariffs.

“We have two choices here folks. We either roll over and let this guy (Trump) run us over with a cement truck 15 times because they don’t care about us or we get up and fight like we have never fought before,” he said. “I believe in the latter. We need to fight, continue fighting and make sure the Americans feel the pain.”

CTV News has reached out to General Motors for comment on whether there will be any changes to vehicle production in Oshawa but has not heard back.