GM said in May it would eliminate the third shift at its Oshawa Silverado pickup plant by the fall. Now, it’s delaying those plans by several months.Petrina Gentile/The Globe and Mail
General Motors Co. GM-N says it has delayed plans to cut the third shift at its plant in Oshawa, Ont., by several months, in a temporary reprieve for 700 jobs.
Stellantis NV STLA-N, meanwhile, confirmed it will add a third shift at its Windsor, Ont., assembly plant in the first quarter of 2026, after backing away from a plan to boost production by adding the jobs this fall.
Lana Payne, national president of Unifor, which represents workers at both plants, said the announcements are a “sign of life” for the battered Canadian auto sector that “remains under siege by unfair, unjust U.S. tariffs.”
“Despite today’s good news, autoworkers still face a highly precarious situation in Oshawa as well as other auto communities, but it does show that the work our union is doing and the message our members are sending to decision-makers is making a difference,” Ms. Payne said. “Fighting back matters.”
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GM said in May it would eliminate the third shift at its Oshawa Silverado pickup plant by the fall as 25-per-cent U.S. tariffs on imported vehicles upended North American free trade. GM spokeswoman Jennifer Wright on Tuesday said the third shift will now run until January.
“At that time, the plant will return to a two-shift operation and continue preparations to build the next generation of full-size, gas-powered pickups. We continue to work closely with Unifor to support employees throughout this transition,” Ms. Wright said.
GM hired hundreds of people at its Silverado plant in Fort Wayne, Ind., boosting production by 50,000 trucks a year and shifting production to dodge the tariffs.
LouAnn Gosselin, a spokeswoman for Stellantis, which makes Chrysler minivans and Dodge muscle cars in Windsor, said increased demand spurred it to add a third production shift early next year. The third shift was to be added this month but cancelled shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump levied the tariffs, which grant Canadian-made cars a partial exemption. The United States also imposed tariffs on metals and other raw materials.
Ottawa responded by imposing similar auto tariffs, but carved out exemptions for carmakers that maintain certain production levels in Canada. These levels are confidential.
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James Stewart, president of the Unifor local at the Windsor plant, said, “Making sure we have the best possible conditions for our plants to run at capacity is the only way we’re going to get through this trade war and clearly that message is being received loud and clear.”
Ms. Payne repeated her concerns about the future of Stellantis’s plant in Brampton, Ont., which has been closed since late 2023. Work on retooling for new vehicles has halted, leaving 3,000 Stellantis workers and those at supplier plants laid off.
“Restarting the third shift in Windsor and delaying the end of the third shift in Oshawa are steps in the right direction, but we’re watching the Stellantis Brampton plant closely,” Ms. Payne said.