GM Oshawa to lay off up to 1,200 workers on Friday

The day Oshawa, Ont., autoworkers have dreaded for months has arrived, as GM Canada is poised to cut a shift at the city’s plant, costing over a thousand workers their jobs. 

Up to 1,200 workers are expected to complete their final shift on Friday as the company scales back its Canadian operations, according to the union president who represents them. 

“We did everything we could … we’ve made our arguments to General Motors,” said Jeff Gray, Unifor Local 222 president, on Wednesday. 

GM is cutting the plant’s midnight shift, which is one of three shifts. Seniority rules will apply, Gray said — meaning high-seniority members will be bumped to the remaining shifts, while lower-seniority members across all three shifts will lose their jobs. 

Gray said these workers will be left in a “heartbreaking” position as they walk into their shift just like any other day, while knowing they won’t have a job next week. 

“You feel very nervous and anxious that you can continue to provide a living for yourself and your family,” said Gray.

CBC News reached out to GM Canada for comment. 

The Detroit-based automotive manufacturer said it was cutting the plant’s midnight shift in May. That announcement came a month after U.S. President Donald Trump announced tariffs targeting the auto sector. 

At the time, spokesperson Jennifer Wright told CBC Toronto that “forecasted demand and the evolving trade environment” were behind the cut. 

Meanwhile, GM is adding 250 temporary workers to its plant in Fort Wayne, Ind. Both the Oshawa and Fort Wayne plants build the Chevrolet Silverado. 

Layoffs at the Oshawa plant were initially slated to take place in November, but were delayed to the end January.

That delay gave union officials more time to lobby the federal government to secure a trade deal with the United States and push for GM to reverse its shift reduction. 

When the shift cut was first announced, Unifor said around 2,000 workers would be laid off. Gray said that number has since gone down to between 1,100 and 1,200 workers, due to work done by in-plant representation. 

But earlier this month, Gray called on national union leaders to step up their support for workers, saying auto jobs across the province are “disappearing.”