Rich Le Tourneau is straightforward as he places his beer down on the bar at the union hall, which is just a short distance from the General Motors plant in Fort Wayne, Ind., where he’s worked for 38 years.
“I respect Canadian unions, I respect the Mexican union. We didn’t raise our hand and say … ‘I’ll take what you guys got.’ That decision was made way above our head,” he told .
“But when the company comes to me to increase volume, I’m not gonna tell them no, either, because it’s job security for my people, and hell, if I can corner the market, I will.”
Le Tourneau is the bargaining chairman at United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2209, which represents GM workers in Fort Wayne. This is where GM is adding 250 temporary jobs to build Chevrolet Silverados – work that has also been happening in Oshawa, Ont. but is being reduced.
A view inside UAW 2209 Local’s bar, located at their union hall in Fort Wayne, Ind. GM hired around 250 temporary workers at the Fort Wayne plant earlier this year, just before GM Canada cut a shift at its Oshawa Assembly in Ontario. (Hugo Levesque/CBC)
GM announced in early April it was increasing its workforce at the Fort Wayne plant, just days after U. S. President Donald Trump revealed plans for a 25 percent tariff on finished vehicles and some auto parts – targeting one of Canada’s most lucrative manufactured products.
A month later, GM Canada said it was eliminating one of three shifts at its Oshawa Assembly; about 750 of its 3,000 employees are set to be laid off by January 30th, plus hundreds more across the surrounding supply chain.
Both the Oshawa and Fort Wayne assemblies – along with a GM factory in Silao, Mexico – produce light-duty Chevy Silverado pickup trucks. Oshawa also makes heavy-duty Silverados while Fort Wayne builds GMC Sierra pickups.
Jeff Gray is the president of Unifor Local 222, representing workers at the Oshawa plant. He says he’s not shocked by Le Tourneau’s remarks.
“What if we had the opportunity in Canada to increase our volume or get different investments? Of course we would be after that,” Gray said.
U. S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have created tension between the UAW and Unifor says Jeff Gray, president of Unifor Local 222 who represents workers at the Oshawa plant. (Michael Cole/CBC)
The leadership at UAW has a chance to take advantage of Trump’s administration’s focus on tariffs to create favorable conditions for business that they can manage well,” he stated.
However, Gray likened tariff policies to a barrier that’s been placed between Canadian and American unions.
“It’s not that we’re angry with UAW,” he explained. “They’re our brothers; they’re our sisters.”
“At the same time we compete for business. The playing field right now isn’t very level and that worries us.”
Trump has often claimed that America doesn’t need cars made in Canada – comments experts argue don’t reflect how interconnected both countries’ auto industries really are.
While Canada’s automotive industry has declined over recent decades, jobs remaining within Oshawa’s plant offer decent pay and solid benefits which have come from hard-fought negotiations by their union.” Gray mentioned: “If we let these jobs leave they aren’t coming back.”
Most workers currently employed at Oshawa’s GM facility are newer entrants into manufacturing; many have young families who switched careers seeking better pay options according to Chris Waugh who chairs their local union.
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