Fiat Chrysler will end its third shift at the Windsor, Ont. assembly plant on Sept. 30.
The announcement comes as a hammer blow to Ontario’s auto sector, as some 1,500 workers will be looking for work come the fall – joining their Oshawa GM colleagues in the unemployment lines.
The third shift thas been in place since 1993, according to Unifor Local 444 president Dave Cassidy.
Gillian Laflamme, who works at the plant, was at the union hall when she heard the news. Wiping away tears, she told CBC News that, until yesterday, she’d been trying to stay positive.
“There’s, like, 1,200 people who want to throw up right now,” she said.
Cassidy said the news is devastating for everyone.
“Our feeder plants, obviously, will feel the ripple effects,” he told CBC News, referring to factories that supply parts to the Windsor plant.
The Windsor plant makes the Chrysler Pacifica, the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid and the Dodge Grand Caravan, according to Fiat Chrysler’s website.
Oshawa GM workers were told back in December that the Oshawa assembly plant would be closing at the end of 2019.
Unifor represents 2,600 assembly-line workers at GM Oshawa and 1,800 workers at plants supplying the Oshawa operations. Some 1,500 work at feeder plants that are entirely reliant on Oshawa.
It is a far cry from the mid-1990s, when Unifor’s predecessor union counted 14,750 hourly members in Oshawa.
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