By CRM staff
Toronto, Ontario – May 8, 2019 – General Motors Canada announced it will be saving 300 jobs and possibly more at its GM Oshawa assembly plant as a part of its transition plan.
Last November General Motors announced that it would be shutting down its Oshawa plant as a part of GM’s strategy to lower carbon emissions and prepare for the future of electric and autonomous cars. After months of going back and forth, Unifor and GM finally came to an agreement, that will transition the GM Oshawa Assembly operations to a plant for parts manufacturing and advanced vehicle testing. The OEM plans to invest more than $170 million to make this transition happen.
This transformation plan is very significant as it positions Oshawa for a sustainable future. This agreement maximizes the support for our people and their families, and further secures Oshawa as a key in developing vehicles of the future at our new test track,” said GM Canada president and managing director Travis Hester.
In this agreement, GM plans to convert part of the Oshawa plant into a test track for self-driving cars and advanced vehicle technology.
As for the 2,500 Oshawa employees, GM has agreed to a number of compromises. The OEM plans to offer special relocations for jobs at some of its other Ontario operations, as well as enhanced retirement packages to any of the employees eligible. Retraining financial support and a jobs action centre will be put in place to help any of the employees seeking new work.
“By maintaining a footprint in Oshawa, and keeping the plant intact, we save hundreds of jobs and this gives us the ability to build and create new jobs in the future. We are in a much better position than we were five months ago when the plant was closing,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor national president
