Brampton Faces Gloom As Chrysler Plant Idled For Weeks
Posted February 6, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Auto industry woes continue to create anxious communities across the country, and things just got even worse.
The Chrysler plant in Brampton is one of four in North America that announced it will be shutting its doors for a week due to the sagging economy. Workers heading into their afternoon shift were hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.
“We’re pretty upset about it but there’s not much we can do, the economy isn’t good,” said employee Patrick O’Neill. “You’ve got to do what you can do. We’re hoping this will be the last one but they’ve scheduled another one in March, another one in April for a week, so that’s all up and down for us anyway.”
“It’s pretty bad…coming in and going back out. But that’s the auto industry,” another added.
Plant employees just got back to work after a month-long shut down in December, so the latest news was quite disheartening. By closing down the plant, however, they not only cut costs, but also improve the optics of inventory piling up on dealership lots.
U.S. sales of Chrysler products plummeted 30% in 2008, and 55% in January.
The city of Brampton is fast growing and is still seeing new construction projects and businesses opening up. But others are closing, too. The community is feeling the pinch.
“It’s disappointing to hear about a shutdown at Chrysler. It’s happened before. These are tough economic times, and if people are losing their jobs they’re not spending money, I’m quite concerned about the Brampton economy,” notes Gary Collins, CEO, Brampton Board of Trade.
