Oshawa (Canada) (AFP) – Jeff Gray, a union leader for Canadians working for GM, has a message for companies considering moving auto jobs to the United States in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs. “It’s not happening,” Gray told AFP in Oshawa, an industrial city roughly 60 kilometres (37 miles) east of Toronto. Oshawa’s development over the past century has been closely intertwined with the local General Motors plant. Like Windsor, another city in Canada’s largest province of Ontario, its future is linked to the auto industry.
Hundreds of thousands of workers across southern Ontario whose jobs are tied to auto-making have endured turmoil in recent weeks, as Trump has threatened a range of tariffs that industry experts warn could force mass layoffs. Gray, a long-time auto worker, said members of his UNIFOR Local 222 union who assemble Chevy’s popular Silverado pick-up truck were feeling “a little bit anxious” when the president’s tariff threats began. But over the last month, he said, people have grown “sick of being antagonized.” “We’re sick of being threatened,” he added. “Now, we’re defiant.”
“We’re not going to lose one single auto job in Ontario,” he told AFP, vowing to physically prevent car companies from removing equipment from Canadian plants if necessary.
– ‘Everybody against each other’ –
Like many industries caught up in Trump’s trade war, the future of Canada’s auto sector is unclear. Trump’s planned 25% tariffs on all auto imports, including car parts, are set to come into effect next week. The actual levy on vehicles assembled in Canada could be lower given North America’s highly-integrated manufacturing process, with individual parts crossing the border several times during assembly. Officials suggested Thursday that the tariff on a Canadian-assembled vehicle could be trimmed based on their percentage of American parts.
Trump also held what he described as an “extremely productive” first call on Friday with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who took over from Justin Trudeau on March 14. Trump’s summary of the call posted on Truth Social marked a dramatic departure from his insulting posts about Trudeau, which often included threats to annex Canada. Speaking before details of the Trump-Carney call emerged, auto worker Robert Romano said the uncertainty was breeding division. “I don’t know what his plans are,” said Romano, the union’s financial secretary. “I’m not sure he knows what his plans are. But we are a trading partner… Building cars in North America has always been a US-Canada bond and now it’s pitting everybody against each other.”
– The Oshawa Generals –
Romano noted that General Motors has “been a staple in this community forever.” At its height in the 1980s, the plant employed 25,000 people. The ends of shifts were staggered to avoid gridlock among workers leaving the lot. The local hockey team, which is part of a development league for teenage professional prospects, is named The Generals, after General Motors.
Gray said his great-grandfather was a founding member of the union in 1937, and multiple relatives have worked for GM since, a story common across Oshawa. The industry in the city of some 200,000 people has seen various setbacks, including job losses over the past two decades. Addressing Canadian politicians ahead of the April 28 election, Gray insisted his members would reject the types of solutions previously offered to auto workers facing layoffs.
“We’re not interested in second careers. We’re not interested in action centers that will help us with resume building because that ship has sailed,” he told AFP. “We are auto workers. We are 100 percent interested in our jobs.”
© 2024 AFP
