GM halts production, lays off hundreds at Ingersoll, Ont., assembly plant, to reopen in October
The Cami assembly system of General Motors in Ingersoll, Ontario, will close next month with the plans to reopen in the autumn halfway through the capacity.
The company declared in a declaration on Friday that the production is stopping as a direct result of the market and inventory available to build the electric delivery vehicles brightdrop manufactured in the factory.
“Cami is making operational and employment adjustments to balance the inventory and align production programs with the current demand,” GM said in a note.
“GM remains engaged in the future of Brightrdrop and the Cami plant and will support employees during the transition”.
Two models of Brightdrop Zevo are made on site and the sales remained behind the competition, with numbers released by GM showing a total of 427 vehicles sold in Canada in 2024 and 1,529 in the United States.
“It is heartbreaking, certainly for the people who are affected in our community,” said the mayor of Ingersoll Brian Petrie.
“We want to deal with people, that’s what it really is. Everyone has families and I know that there is an action center established in Unifor to help people, and we will surely do everything possible through the city to work with our partners to support people.”
The news follows the temporary closure of the Windsor di Stellantis assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario, which was announced at the beginning of April, following the imposition of the US car tariffs.
The Cami plant takes about 1,200 workers. Unifor said that the layoffs will begin on Monday, with a certain production that continues in May.
Subsequently, the production will stop until October, the union said in a note.
“When the production resumes in October, the plant will operate on a single round for the near future – a reduction that should involve the indefinite dismissal of almost 500 workers”, reads the note.
“Our members have endured so much – from the remodeling interruptions to months of rotating layoffs – and are now facing an important slowdown in production and work loss,” said Mike Van Boekel, a chair at 88 Unifor Cami plants.
“The global question of delivery vehicles of the last mile is only growing. Our members have the ability, experience and pride of building world-class electric vehicles right here in Canada-what we need is the opportunity to continue doing it.”
Politicians respond to the news
Following the confirmation of the layoffs and arrest, the conservative leader Pierre Poirievre was the first leader to react to the news, issuing a Social media declaration.
“I am incredibly saddened by the layoffs in the Cami GM assembly system of Ingersoll,” wrote Poiievre. “This morning I spoke with the president of the 88 GM plant in Unifor Local Mike Van Boekel and I expressed my commitment to protect Canadian car workers.”
Poiievre’s declaration targeted the President of the United States Donald Trump, saying that “he is betraying his closest friend of America and is attacking our economy”.
The conservative candidate Arpan Khanna, who is running for the re -election in the guide of Oxford, who includes Ingersoll, issued a declaration Also, a few minutes after the news.
“This situation goes beyond the only title: it is an important loss for our community. They are 500 of our families, friends and neighbors,” said Khanna.
Petrie is confident that production will return to the plant in the future.
“We have the best workforce in the world. I know it will be long -term success. You can’t move it, you can’t take it anywhere else. It is here and a success has been made for over 100 years and will continue to do so.”
