Layoffs at auto plant in Oshawa, Ontario still on schedule for November

The president of the union representing General Motors Oshawa Assembly workers was surprised when media reports that began circulating Friday about the impending layoff of 250 TFT Global parts management employees at the plant.

“I didn’t think it was a story,” said Jeff Gray, the president of Unifor Local 222, who represents both TFT and GM workers inside the plant. “This is normal for the auto industry.”

The layoffs for 250 (of 875) TFT workers – who were contracted for parts management when the plant re-opened in late 2021- were actually announced in July to comply with unemployment requirements, Gray noted, with the company “hedging their bets” by making the announcement early.

“Instead of paying workers to stay at home they have just extended the deadline.”

The actual layoffs are expected in November, when the bulk of the 700 regular GM workers are scheduled for layoffs when the plant is reduced to two shifts because of pressure from U.S. tariffs.

Other contract workers inside the plant, such as Robinson (janitorial) and Lear (seats) are also expected to lose a shift in November.

With outside parts suppliers and others in the supply chain factored in, as many as 2,000 workers in the industry will be out of work in November.

The mood at the plant among all unionized workers remains understandably “anxious,” Gray noted.

“Members are worried about their future with the threat of tariffs,” he said. “We just want to get past that and get business back to normal.”

The affected workers will return to the job “when we find them more work,” he added. “Otherwise they’ll be on indefinite layoff.”

Unifor confirmed in the spring that GM planned to move Oshawa from three shifts to two in November because of the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, with reduced shits beginning in June.

The only good news for workers coming from the plant is year is the recent announcement that the company confirming it will be building the next generation of gas-powered Chevrolet Silverado pickups in Oshawa, the only GM plant building both light-duty and heavy-duty Silverado trucks on the same production line.

Even with the reduced shifts GM Canada still managed to increase sales in the second quarter of 2025 by eight per cent to lead the Canadian industry in sales through the first half of 2025 with a 15.8 per cent market share.

TFT Global worker