'In a fight with one man': Trump's tariffs have autoworkers in Oshawa, Ont., on edge
'So many families, so many livelihoods are attached to the auto sector here in Oshawa,' says union president
For more than a century, Oshawa, Ont., has been the city of autoworkers.
The decades-old Canadian Automotive Museum in the downtown core, murals depicting locally made vehicles and the city's beloved Oshawa Generals hockey team, named after one of the auto giants, are all symbols of that glorious — and often treacherous — history.
The auto industry has gone through ups and downs since its inception. Workers have weathered economic recessions, layoffs and devastating plant closures, including in 2019 when General Motors stopped production of vehicles in Oshawa for nearly two years.
But nothing has prepared them for the cloud of uncertainty brought on by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, that include 25 per cent duties on imported vehicles with temporary reprieve for some parts compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement.
Many say the impact of tariffs is a threat far greater than anything else they have experienced.
Trump has said his goal is to move manufacturing jobs back to the United States. That means hundreds of thousands of jobs are on the line in Ontario alone, including those in the automobile production and supply chain in Oshawa.
The president of Unifor Local 222, whose members include autoworkers at the GM assembly plant in Oshawa, said the union's latest fight is different from typical challenges in the sector.
"This is an unusual situation to be in because we're really in a fight with one man and his small group and his administration," Jeff Gray said in an interview at his office, with "Elbows Up" shirts folded on the table in front of him.
Since the union doesn't have a direct line to influence Trump, their only option is to lobby employers and Canadian politicians, he said.
"The history is deep, and so many families, so many livelihoods are attached to the auto sector here in Oshawa that we will do whatever is necessary to keep that production (going)," said Gray, who has been on a leave of absence from his job at the GM plant since becoming the president of Local 222.
Oshawa's automotive history began in the late 19th century after McLaughlin, a carriage production business, moved into the city. McLaughlin started manufacturing automobiles in 1907 and merged with Chevrolet Canada to form General Motors Canada in 1918.
While the industry's growth wasn't linear, General Motors kept expanding its footprint and operation, hiring more workers and increasing production until the late 20th century.
At one point in the 1970s, tens of thousands of people from Oshawa and the surrounding areas either worked at the auto production plants or for companies that were part of the supply chain, workers said. The industry was booming, and so was the city.
That's when Lance Livingstone became an autoworker, following his father's and two brothers' footsteps.
"I was lucky. I was at a good time when I worked," he said, reflecting on his 31 years at General Motors before he retired in 2004.
He said fear of the unknown amid Trump's tariffs is "actually scary."
"I wouldn't want to be a young worker right now in the plant because it's the uncertainty if they're going to work or not."
Decades of decline in Oshawa's auto industry
Gray said he has seen a steady decline in the industry since he started working for GM in 1997.
Back in those days, GM employees in Oshawa worked in eight shifts at three separate locations. Now, there are three shifts at only one plant location that employs about 3,000 people.
Car models produced at the Oshawa plant used to include Chevrolet Impala and Camaro, Buick Regal and Cadillac XTS but now there is only one product: Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks. The plant produces 660 of them every 24 hours.
When GM closed the plant in 2019 as part of a global restructuring plan, many thought that was the end of Oshawa's auto industry. Of nearly 3,000 who worked there at the time — close to 98 per cent were either laid off or went into retirement, Gray said.
But GM decided the following year to retool the plant, and the first Silverado pickup rolled off the line in late 2021.
Carl Stitt was among the workers who returned to the plant once it reopened. Now, he is worried about another round of layoffs. Without a job, he said he won't be able to bring food to the table or pay his mortgage.
"What he is doing, like these tariffs, this is going to hurt the Americans even worse than Canadians, and he needs to back off," Stitt said of Trump.
Jason Gale, a GM employee and union representative, said most of the current workers were new hires after the 2021 reopening, and they aren't used to the ups and downs of the industry.
But as a veteran autoworker with 23 years of experience, his own fear is mixed with a lot of hope.
"One thing that we are good at doing is fighting for our jobs, and we will continue to fight to build vehicles in Canada," he said.
"If they want to sell in Canada, they need to have a footprint in Canada, and we have an incredible workforce and membership, highly skilled, and we produce the best vehicles right now."
Trump's tariffs have already triggered a two-week shutdown at the Stellantis assembly plant in Windsor, Ont., and Premier Doug Ford has said that he is very concerned about the province's auto
industry.
Jennifer French, the NDP member of provincial parliament representing Oshawa, said autoworkers have a long history of working in uncertain environments, but the ongoing trade war has created a new kind of unpredictability because no one knows what Trump wants.
"The threat of tariffs is a different beast," she said.
French said she drives a 2014 Chevy Impala made in Oshawa and knows the people who have built some parts of her car.
"I'll tell you that the car is probably never going to die," she said.
French said politicians have been promising to stand up for workers and she hopes to see those words put into action after the federal election.
"Oshawa has such deep roots when it comes to automotive, and we have such a storied history of building quality vehicles that it is impossible to imagine that coming to an end," she said.
'Their hearts are in every car they build'
No institution explains that history better than the Canadian Automotive Museum where made-in-Oshawa vehicles, including a 1908 McLaughlin Model F and a 1955 Buick Special, are on display.
There is also the last Chevrolet Lumina produced at the Oshawa plant in 1999 and signed by hundreds of workers to celebrate a quality control award.
"Their names are on the surface, but their hearts are in every car they build," the description of the white four-door sedan reads.
That passion for building cars is what keeps Gray, the Unifor Local 222 president, optimistic about the industry's future even in the face of an unprecedented challenge.
He said the North American auto supply chain has become so deeply integrated in the past four decades that it would take at least 10 years for the United States to build everything it needs to keep production at home.
Neither auto manufacturers, nor the Trump administration have that long to deal with the economic fallout, Gray said.
What also makes him hopeful is the fact that Canadians have responded to Trump's threats with unity.
"That gives me optimism that we will get through this together like we always do."