Four thousand five hundred auto workers are on temporary layoff at Stellantis in Windsor, Ontario, after the assembly plant closed for seven days on May 5. This pause could be linked to the tariffs imposed in the trade war between politicians and oligarchs in the USA and Canada.
On May 6, management announced they would reduce production shifts for a 12-week period. This will entail weeks of complete shutdowns, some weeks with only one shift reporting, and some weeks of full production. Stellantis also announced shutdowns in its plants in Warren, Michigan and Mexico at the same time.
The Windsor plant produces the Chrysler Pacifica and the electric Dodge Charger. Like all other Canadian automakers, Stellantis is affected by the 25% tariff imposed by Donald Trump on completed cars coming into the United States as of April 3.
The tariffs triggered an immediate two-week shutdown in the Stellantis plants when first announced. Besides the 4,500 workers at the Windsor assembly plant, up to 12,000 more workers on both sides of the border at facilities that supply the Windsor and Warren plants are affected by the April shutdown.
Now, Stellantis is denying that the newly announced 12-week reduction in production is related to the tariffs. However, the union believes it is directly connected. The company also informed the union that the planned addition of a third shift at the Windsor Assembly Plant for 2025 will be postponed until 2026.
Unifor Local 444 President James Stewart has previously stated that the results of the shutdown would be devastating for auto workers in the industry. Now, workers are facing 12 weeks with reduced paycheques from the shutdowns. The union has stated that these kinds of shutdowns can affect the whole industry—in both Canada and the U.S.—and could cause further inflation, reduced sales and job losses, triggering a recession.
The chief financial officer of Stellantis, Doug Ostermann, said on a conference call that Stellantis is considering moving production to the U.S. to avoid paying the tariffs. Meanwhile, Unifor Local 444 in Windsor is organizing dinner meeting sessions for its workers on trade, Trump's tariffs and the union's response.