Located in Oshawa, Ontario, GM Canada employs 7,700 people in the country until the GM cutbacks kick in. The Unifor boycott could cause more cuts GM threatens. Simple solution – thus far lost on GM brass – keep the productive and award-winning Oshawa plant complex open.
With Unifor actions against GM Canada just beginning, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers delivered 288,310 total sales for the full year of 2018 including 214,668 retail sales and 73,642 fleet sales. This made GM Canada the market leader for retail sales in Canada for 2018 with “excellent Crossover Performance for Encore, Terrain, Traverse and the all new XT4.”
However, during December – before the formal Unifor boycott against GM products was underway but after the GM cutbacks were decreed – sales tallied just 13,855 down from 19,801 during December 2017. That’s ~-30% drop-off. (Unifor Boycott Threatens Damage for Ontario Workers GM Says, GM to Invest $22 Million in Spring Hill for Big V8 Engines)
“The past year saw significant market swings in customer purchases from sedans toward crossovers, SUVs and pickups – areas where GM has one of the strongest, newest product lineups in the industry, with several important new entries coming in 2019,” said GM Canada president and managing director Travis Hester.
That’s precisely the problem, ey? Canadian auto workers are not benefiting from and are being punished with layoffs and the closure of the award-wining Oshawa plant as GM sends middle-class jobs to Mexico where workers are paid $2 an hour.
GM Unifor members make North American transmissions in St. Catharines and stamp body panels in Ingersoll that go into Mexican made vehicles sold in Canada for the moment at the convenience of GM.
“GM is arrogant enough to think it can rob Canada of jobs without repercussions,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias, who resisted the boycott at first. “GM is making a choice to increase manufacturing in Mexico while it abandons communities that have supported it for generations. Make no mistake Canadian and American consumers also have a choice,” he concluded.
The boycott call is specific to vehicles manufactured in Mexico so that GM feels in its pocketbook that its customers will not be party to the exploitation and betrayal of workers, according to Unifor.
Headquartered in Oshawa, Ontario, GM Canada employs more than 7,700 people across the country until the cutbacks kick in.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
GM Canada Led 2018 Sales. Now Threatened by Unifor Boycott
Located in Oshawa, Ontario, GM Canada employs 7,700 people in the country until the GM cutbacks kick in. The Unifor boycott could cause more cuts GM threatens. Simple solution – thus far lost on GM brass – keep the productive and award-winning Oshawa plant complex open.
With Unifor actions against GM Canada just beginning, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers delivered 288,310 total sales for the full year of 2018 including 214,668 retail sales and 73,642 fleet sales. This made GM Canada the market leader for retail sales in Canada for 2018 with “excellent Crossover Performance for Encore, Terrain, Traverse and the all new XT4.”
However, during December – before the formal Unifor boycott against GM products was underway but after the GM cutbacks were decreed – sales tallied just 13,855 down from 19,801 during December 2017. That’s ~-30% drop-off. (Unifor Boycott Threatens Damage for Ontario Workers GM Says, GM to Invest $22 Million in Spring Hill for Big V8 Engines)
“The past year saw significant market swings in customer purchases from sedans toward crossovers, SUVs and pickups – areas where GM has one of the strongest, newest product lineups in the industry, with several important new entries coming in 2019,” said GM Canada president and managing director Travis Hester.
That’s precisely the problem, ey? Canadian auto workers are not benefiting from and are being punished with layoffs and the closure of the award-wining Oshawa plant as GM sends middle-class jobs to Mexico where workers are paid $2 an hour.
GM Unifor members make North American transmissions in St. Catharines and stamp body panels in Ingersoll that go into Mexican made vehicles sold in Canada for the moment at the convenience of GM.
“GM is arrogant enough to think it can rob Canada of jobs without repercussions,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias, who resisted the boycott at first. “GM is making a choice to increase manufacturing in Mexico while it abandons communities that have supported it for generations. Make no mistake Canadian and American consumers also have a choice,” he concluded.
The boycott call is specific to vehicles manufactured in Mexico so that GM feels in its pocketbook that its customers will not be party to the exploitation and betrayal of workers, according to Unifor.
Headquartered in Oshawa, Ontario, GM Canada employs more than 7,700 people across the country until the cutbacks kick in.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.