Stateside GM strike closes Oshawa, Ont. plant

OSHAWA, Ont. — Ripples from a crippling strike by 73,000 GM workers in the U.S. have spread across the border into Canada, halting operations at the carmaker’s Oshawa, Ont. plant and possibly closing several more facilities.

The thousands of United Auto Workers walked off the job across the U.S. just before noon yesterday. It is said to be the first nationwide strike for the auto industry since 1976.

With the supply of parts and components from the south choked off, GM Canada’s Plant 1 in Oshawa sent 3,000 people home early this morning.

Plant 2, which employs 3,000 people, could also close its doors today because it can’t get powertrains and other critical components trucked or railed in from facilities in the U.S. Canadian Autoworkers President Buzz Hargrove told CTV News that the Oshawa truck plant isn’t out of danger either.

Hargrove told media today that he wasn’t optimistic about a quick end to the. strike. He suggests it’ll be at least two weeks before some of the major issues between the carmaker and the unions are resolved.

The strike’s impact is reaching far beyond the walls of GM’s assembly plants, in the meantime. Trucking companies who haul mainly auto-related freight for GM could be parking trucks this week, while many second tier parts suppliers along the Hwy 401 corridor may also be cutting shifts.

About 50 percent of all the total parts GM buys are reportedly made in Canada. That means the jobs of about 40,000 Canadian auto parts workers could be affected, mostly in Ontario and Quebec, says Hargrove.

Job security seems to be was the major unresolved issue prompting the strike, according to UAW President Ron Gettelfinger.

— with files from CTV News