General Motors union workers affected by the automaker’s decision to close four truck and SUV plants continue to voice their displeasure as CAW members blocked the entrance to GM of Canada’s headquarters in Oshawa, Ontario. General Motors announced Tuesday at its annual meeting that it would be shuttering the doors of four of its truck and SUV plants due to sagging demand — including its Oshawa truck plant.
In addition to the loss of about 2,600 jobs, the CAW is upset because it feels GM broke a recently inked agreement to keep the Oshawa plant open. “We are going to stay here until General Motors reverses the decision they made yesterday, or at the very least commits to a product for the Oshawa truck plant, or sits down face-to-face with this union to try to explain why they have broken our brand new agreement,” Chris Buckley, of the Canadian Auto Workers union, told Automotive News.
In the CAW contract inked last month, GM pledged to boost Canadian production and even promised production of the Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid and GMC Sierra Hybrid to the Oshawa plant. Those hybrid trucks will now be made in the U.S. or Mexico.
However, even with the national contract, the CAW doesn’t really have a leg to stand on. Last month, sales of the Chevy Silverado plummeted 44 percent and the GMC Sierra saw a sales decline of 33.9 percent. It seems the CAW might have a pretty tough time convincing GM to produce two vehicles that nobody wants to buy anymore.
