GM Oshawa plant to be hit with more layoffs next month, union says

FILE - The General Motors plant in Oshawa, Ontario on the final day of production on Wednesday December 18, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim

General Motors is cutting production at its assembly plant in Oshawa, resulting in rotating layoffs, the workers’ union says.

In a statement on Friday, Unifor said one shift per week will be temporarily laid off. It is not immediately known how many workers will be affected.

“This is especially disappointing given last week’s announcement that GM plans to reduce Oshawa from a three-shift to a two-shift operation this fall, leaving workers facing increased instability and uncertainty,” said Unifor, which represents 3,000 workers at the Oshawa assembly.

The union added that it will meet with GM to review options to mitigate permanent job loss.

Unifor then urged Prime Minister Mark Carney to meet with the CEOs of automakers selling in Canada and review GM’s tariff remission on vehicles imported into the country.

A union source told CP24 that rotational layoffs are not unusual, and the one next month is not believed to be a result of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The source said it has more to do with a changeover of models at the plant.

Last week’s announcement of a shift cutback at the assembly plant, however, was the outcome of America’s auto tariffs, albeit not directly referenced in GM’s statement, which said the changes were “in light of forecast demand and the evolving trade environment.”

Unifor has said the fall cutback will impact over 700 direct employees and about 1,500 supply chain jobs.

Premier Doug Ford said he met with the province’s auto mayors earlier Thursday “to reaffirm our commitment to protect Ontario auto workers and their communities.”

“No matter what, we’ll have their backs,” Ford wrote in a post on social media.

Ontario’s unemployment rate second highest in Canada

On Friday, Statistics Canada said the unemployment rate in Ontario last month was 7.8 per cent, the second highest in the country. Newfoundland has the highest jobless rate at 9.6 per cent.

The agency said the manufacturing sector, which is facing uncertainty related to U.S. tariffs, led to job losses in April with 31,000.

“This was the first significant decline for manufacturing employment at the national level since November 2024,” StatCan said in its report.

Among provinces, Ontario posted the largest decline in the manufacturing sector last month. In Windsor, Canada’s auto manufacturing capital, the unemployment rate jumped to 10.7 per cent last month.

Earlier this week, Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy announced that the upcoming budget would expand the Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit to boost the sector amid the trade war.

With files from The Canadian Press