CTV News canada is reporting the company said in a statement that eliminating the third shift would “better align production with global demand and the company will make every effort to place indefinitely laid off hourly employees in open full-time positions as they become available based on seniority.”
The plant, which produces the Chrysler Pacifica, the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid and the Dodge Grand Caravan, employs 6,104 workers, according to the FCA website.
Through February, sales of the Pacifica are down 24 percent to 19,422 and sales of the Dodge Caravan are down 27 percent to 19,634 for the United States, according to FCA’s sales figures, reports the Detroit Free Press. FCA’s total U.S. sales through February are flat at 289,118 cars.
Labor union Unifor Local 444 President Dave Cassidy said the news is “devastating for everybody.” The company informed the union of the layoffs at 2 p.m. Thursday. “We’re going to do everything possible to make sure we maintain three shifts. Everyone knows our product in Windsor is No. 1 and if you want to build it right, you want to build it in Windsor.”
Unifor national president Jerry Dias was just as shocked as Cassidy. “I am deeply concerned about the 1,500 plus families, the community of Windsor (and) the (Canadian) auto industry,” Dias wrote in a tweet. “(Unifor) has demanded an urgent meeting with (FCA)”
The automaker is required, based on union regulations, to give a six-month notice of permanent reductions. Thursday’s news followed reports on Wednesday that FCA would idle its plants in Windsor and Brampton, Ontario, in April in order to align production with demand. This will make it the third time in 2019 that FCA has idled the plant.
