'A real sense of betrayal' among workers as Stellantis plans to idle Windsor, Ont., plant due to tariffs

Automaker Stellantis has confirmed it's shutting down its assembly plant in Windsor, Ont., for two weeks, largely because of U.S. tariffs on imported vehicles.

Company spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin said they're "temporarily pausing production" starting Monday, with operations set to resume the week of April 21.

"Stellantis continues to assess the effects of the recently announced U.S. tariffs on imported vehicles and will continue to engage with the U.S. administration on these policy changes," she said in an emailed statement to CBC News.

Unifor Local 444 estimates roughly 4,500 people work in various jobs and trades at the Canadian border city factory where the Chrysler Pacifica minivan, Chrysler Grand Caravan and Dodge Charger Daytona are made. However, Gosselin said roughly 3,200 people in Canada will be impacted by the decision.

"Immediate actions we must take include temporarily pausing production at some of our Canadian and Mexican assembly plants, which will have an impact to several of our U.S. powertrain and stamping facilities that support those operations," the statement added.

Stellantis, maker of Ram trucks and Jeeps, also said on Thursday it was temporarily laying off 900 workers at five U.S. facilities because of the tariffs.

'Real sense of betrayal'

The union's Local 444 first announced the Windsor shutdown Wednesday night, adding more changes to the schedule were "expected in the coming weeks."

President James Stewart called the border auto tax "unjustified" and said "there is a real sense of betrayal" among local Stellantis workers and the community.

"We know it is not the people in the United States — it is their government," Stewart told CBC News.

"We are a border town. For us it is a little more personal."

According to Stewart, he's unsure if the planned work stoppage could last longer than what he's been told.

"It is hard to know," he said.

For every direct job lost at Stellantis, said, Stewart, there are eight other community members building stuff for the factory who will also be affected.

Prime Minister Mark Carney responded to the U.S. auto tariffs with 25 per cent countertariffs, pledging to feed the estimated $8 billion back into the auto industry to support workers. Stewart said it's the right decision but ultimately means nothing if you don't have a long-term job.

"It has to go into at least the short term to … make sure the economy is still running … to make sure people are still feeding their families. The workers of the plant can't fix this."

Earlier on Wednesday, Trump announced sweeping tariffs on a wide range of countries. While Canada was spared from any new tariffs, automotive tariffs announced by the president last week came into force Thursday. 

Those 25 per cent tariffs are expected to apply to the value of the non-American content in the vehicles. However, parts imported under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) are expected to remain tariff-free, for now.