GM U.S. Strike Leads to 5,000 Layoffs in Canada, Union Says

(Bloomberg) -- About 5,000 workers in Canada have been put on leave due to the United Auto Workers strike at General Motors Co. in the U.S., according to Canadian union Unifor.

The Oshawa, Ontario assembly plant has been hit hardest, with all but about 100 of its 2,200 workers on leave, according to David Paterson, vice president of corporate affairs at GM Canada. That plant builds the Chevrolet Impala car and models of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks.

About two-thirds of GM’s 1,100 workers at its engine plant in St. Catharines, Ontario have been laid off, Paterson said. Production at the assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario has not been affected, although a previously planned week-long shutdown will occur in early October.

“We’re doing extremely well in terms of our objective which has been to keep as much production and as many people at work as possible,” Paterson said. “We’ve been a lot more resilient than a lot of people have expected.”

Jerry Dias, national president for Canadian union Unifor, said thousands of workers at parts suppliers have also been laid off.

Magna International Inc., a major supplier to GM, has begun “temporary sporadic layoffs at various locations in both Canada and the U.S.,” according to spokeswoman Tracy Fuerst. About half of its locations in both countries have been impacted, though some workers have been put on training instead of layoff, she said.

Many Canadian parts makers supply GM and anyone who does “is sitting and waiting,” said Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association. “I think everybody is a little bit surprised that we’re still talking about this in the second week.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Natalie Wong in Toronto at nwong133@bloomberg.net;Kristine Owram in Toronto at kowram@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jacqueline Thorpe at jthorpe23@bloomberg.net;Debarati Roy at droy5@bloomberg.net

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