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GM just turned down the Unifor offers to keep the Oshawa, Ontario GM open.
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Originally posted by AutoNews
GM rejects Unifor's proposals to keep Oshawa assembly plant open
Staff report
General Motors
General Motors will not allot product to its Oshawa Assembly Plant and two other assembly plants in the United States after 2019.
DETROIT -- After reviewing several union proposals to keep General Motors’ Oshawa assembly plant in Ontario operating beyond 2019, the automaker told Canada's Unifor union on Tuesday that it stands by the decision to close the plant.
“Unfortunately, all Unifor’s proposals would involve substantial incremental costs and a further deterioration of GM’s competitive position. Having completed an analysis of Unifor’s proposals, GM has determined that it cannot pursue them because they would not combat the declining economic and market factors that must be addressed,” GM wrote in a response it submitted to Unifor on Tuesday in Detroit.
GM added, in an official statement: "GM responded to Unifor proposals from December and invited the union to begin constructive discussions on transition strategies and supports for Oshawa Assembly workers who may elect to either retire or pursue new careers following their work for GM."
The meeting between Unifor officials and a senior management team from General Motors took place at 2 p.m. ET at the automaker's headquarters in Detroit.
General Motors, which is implementing a massive company-wide restructuring plan designed to save the company $6 billion by the end of 2020, announced in November that after 2019 it will no longer allot product to assembly plants in Oshawa, Lordstown, Ohio, and Detroit-Hamtramck, Mich. Another undisclosed assembly plant outside North America and a U.S. propulsion plant will also close.
Blaming declining sales of passenger vehicles across the automotive industry and a switch in focus to autonomous and electric vehicles, GM said it would no longer have product for its Oshawa workforce, throwing 2,500 Unifor members out of work at the end of the year.
Specifically, GM said it would stop the truck shuttle program that sees the automaker ship unfinished outgoing models of the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado to Oshawa from a plant in Indiana. The automaker also said it will stop building the Chevy Impala and Cadillac XTS.
At a meeting last month with GM executives in Detroit, Unifor submitted at least a trio of proposals to save the plant. It proposed launching GM’s new Blazer in Oshawa rather than Mexico, as planned; extending truck production in Oshawa; extending two existing passenger vehicle programs and bringing product back to Canada from Mexico.
Unifor officials say that during collective bargaining in 2016, GM committed to keeping Oshawa open for the duration of the four-year agreement which expires Sept. 21, 2020. But, the automaker claims it only needs to give the union one year’s notice before closing the plant. Dias said the union received that notice in November.
The plant, which once employed 23,000 workers at the height of its production in the 1980s, has been a major part of Oshawa’s economy for 100 years.
The automaker is also ceasing production of the Chevrolet Volt and Cruze and Buick Lacrosse, as well as the Cadillac CT6.
Staff report
General Motors
General Motors will not allot product to its Oshawa Assembly Plant and two other assembly plants in the United States after 2019.
DETROIT -- After reviewing several union proposals to keep General Motors’ Oshawa assembly plant in Ontario operating beyond 2019, the automaker told Canada's Unifor union on Tuesday that it stands by the decision to close the plant.
“Unfortunately, all Unifor’s proposals would involve substantial incremental costs and a further deterioration of GM’s competitive position. Having completed an analysis of Unifor’s proposals, GM has determined that it cannot pursue them because they would not combat the declining economic and market factors that must be addressed,” GM wrote in a response it submitted to Unifor on Tuesday in Detroit.
GM added, in an official statement: "GM responded to Unifor proposals from December and invited the union to begin constructive discussions on transition strategies and supports for Oshawa Assembly workers who may elect to either retire or pursue new careers following their work for GM."
The meeting between Unifor officials and a senior management team from General Motors took place at 2 p.m. ET at the automaker's headquarters in Detroit.
General Motors, which is implementing a massive company-wide restructuring plan designed to save the company $6 billion by the end of 2020, announced in November that after 2019 it will no longer allot product to assembly plants in Oshawa, Lordstown, Ohio, and Detroit-Hamtramck, Mich. Another undisclosed assembly plant outside North America and a U.S. propulsion plant will also close.
Blaming declining sales of passenger vehicles across the automotive industry and a switch in focus to autonomous and electric vehicles, GM said it would no longer have product for its Oshawa workforce, throwing 2,500 Unifor members out of work at the end of the year.
Specifically, GM said it would stop the truck shuttle program that sees the automaker ship unfinished outgoing models of the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado to Oshawa from a plant in Indiana. The automaker also said it will stop building the Chevy Impala and Cadillac XTS.
At a meeting last month with GM executives in Detroit, Unifor submitted at least a trio of proposals to save the plant. It proposed launching GM’s new Blazer in Oshawa rather than Mexico, as planned; extending truck production in Oshawa; extending two existing passenger vehicle programs and bringing product back to Canada from Mexico.
Unifor officials say that during collective bargaining in 2016, GM committed to keeping Oshawa open for the duration of the four-year agreement which expires Sept. 21, 2020. But, the automaker claims it only needs to give the union one year’s notice before closing the plant. Dias said the union received that notice in November.
The plant, which once employed 23,000 workers at the height of its production in the 1980s, has been a major part of Oshawa’s economy for 100 years.
The automaker is also ceasing production of the Chevrolet Volt and Cruze and Buick Lacrosse, as well as the Cadillac CT6.
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