Chrysler Shuts Assembly Plants In Brampton And Windsor
Posted May 1, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The bankruptcy of Chrysler and the uncertainty of the auto industry have had nervous workers in Canada waiting for the other shoe to drop for months.
On Friday, it did.
Chrysler has apparently decided to close both its Windsor and Brampton assembly plants indefinitely, just one day after confirming it would seek Chapter 11 protection in the U.S., forge an alliance with Fiat and see governments in both the U.S. and Canada take an equity stake in the company.
The shutdown is a result of the company’s financial woes, with a parts shortage making it impossible to continue.
When suppliers heard that Chrysler had declared bankruptcy, many immediately halted all shipments. It didn’t take long for the plants to run out.
Each facility is responsible for thousands of jobs. Brampton employs about 2,700 workers while Windsor is home to 4,400 more.
The Chrysler parts plant in Etobicoke, which has about 300 employees, is also expected to shut down next week, likely on Monday. It may be shuttered for 4-6 weeks.
The exact length of the other plant closures isn’t clear but they’re expected to last from one to two months.
Some workers were taken by surprise. “I didn’t hear anything from management personally,” admits Katherine Kelly. “I just got a letter stating that we were definitely going to be laid off for four to six weeks. Maybe even longer.”
Most know it’s out of their hands. “We are going to have to wait it out and see,” concedes one. “Hopefully the States can get everything together and hopefully start rolling again in production. Nobody’s really worried about it. Here in Canada we’re pretty secure so, it’s the States that kinda has to fix things up.”
The latest news follows on the heels of an announcement by another troubled automaker. General Motors has confirmed it will shut down most of its U.S. plants this summer because of a decline in demand. Those closures are slated to stretch nine weeks.
Photo credit: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
