Canada’s auto workers’ key union now appears resigned to GM of Canada’s Oshawa truck plant closing in 2009, as recently announced.
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But the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) have vowed to fight the closure despite the odds, according to a Canadian Press report.
Union president Buzz Hargrove and other officials on Thursday met GM in Toronto but emerged from the third such meeting this month to confirm the company had again refused to reverse its decision to shut down the truck operation east of the city, the report said.
The automaker did discuss the possibility of bringing new models to the Oshawa car plant, but Hargrove said he would not discuss details or a time frame because of a confidentiality agreement.
The Canadian Press noted it was reported earlier this week GM was considering bringing a Cadillac luxury car and an update of the Chevrolet Malibu midsize sedan to Oshawa, but any new model would likely be years away.
The union hopes GM doesn’t demloish the plant so a new truck model can be brought to Oshawa in the near future.
“Their business is changing every month, the way the auto industry is changing, so we’re hoping in the next year or two, or maybe three, things will turn around somewhat, where there is a product that will fit right into the Oshawa truck plant,” a CAW official told the Canadian Press.
GM has not said what it plans to do with the truck facility. But the company will likely come out with new truck models over the next few years and the CAW wants them to be built in Oshawa, he added.
The Canadian Press added that GM company announced this week that the truck plant workers would also face temporary shut downs from next month.
All 2,600 employees would be affected by the closure, which would temporarily lay off workers for up to eight separate weeks of downtime, the reported added.
