GM Oshawa Closure Ignores Workers' Sacrifices, says CAW

TORONTO, June 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - CAW President Ken Lewenza is calling the decision by General Motors to close the Consolidated Plant in Oshawa short-sighted.

"General Motors should instead be focusing on utilizing its Canadian facilities as it seeks to further rebuild the company," said Lewenza.

"The decision to close this very productive plant and put 2,000 more workers out of a job is ill thought-out and could damage the company in the long run. It is also a betrayal of the tremendous work and sacrifices by our members that went into keeping General Motors afloat in 2008-2009, when the company was on the verge of bankruptcy," he said.

"It appears today that General Motors has a very short memory," said Lewenza.

A recent study by the Michigan-based Center for Automotive Research found that General Motors may have to boost capacity in the coming years to keep pace with demand for vehicles.

Lewenza said this latest closure announcement flies in the face of what may actually be the best course of action for the company - using existing capacity well into the future.

GM will close the facility as of June 2013. The workers at the GM Consolidated Plant in Oshawa are represented by CAW Local 222.

SOURCE Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW)