Unifor President Jerry Dias says after roughly 1,200 General Motors workers in Oshawa were temporarily laid off this week due to the ongoing U.S. strike, thousands more are ex[CLIP]expected by the end of next week.
"Probably 6,200 jobs," he said Wednesday, including the plant in Oshawa which he expects will be shut down Thursday, followed by similar action at plants in Ingersoll and St. Catharines.
"There is no timetable that I can talk about right now," he said, as to how long it could last, adding talks between United Auto Workers and GM were essentially non-existent.
After many Oshawa employees were told not to come to work Tuesday and Wednesday, Dias says the plant will be completely shut down Thursday.
Because of the ongoing strike in the U.S. involving roughly 49,000 workers, parts are not being shipped to Canadian plants.
Oshawa workers will continue to be paid because of GM's planned decision to cease production by the end of year, including a condition of giving employees 16 weeks notice.
"Or else GM would have to reissue the 16-week notice all over again," Dias said, adding however it's unclear what will happen for workers at the other plants. "Our senior members will receive short work week benefits, but I'm not sure if all will qualify, it depends on your seniority."
In a statement, GM Canada only acknowledged the initial 1,200 workers.
"Approximately half of the production at the Oshawa Assembly Plant has been impacted by the UAW strike. Operations at CAMI and St. Catharines remain unimpacted at this time and we continue to monitor the situation," the statement said.