10 years ago the General Motors Car Assembly Plant in Oshawa was one of the most productive auto plants in the world. It topped the JD Power list for quality, and year-in-and-year-out the workers at GM kept it that way.
Oshawa was the crown jewel of General Motors.
GM workers were promised that keeping Oshawa a high-quality, high-productivity producer would ensure the survival of the plant.
They also made money for General Motors; lots of it.
In 1996, General Motors Canada was the first Canadian Company to register a billion-dollar profit. At the time, 40% of GM’s North American profits were coming from the 10% of their workforce that was running the Oshawa plant.
The workers at GM Oshawa have invested millions of dollars through payroll deductions back into our community.
They’ve helped to expand the hospital, build a cancer centre, the YMCA, UOIT, stock the food bank and generated millions more for the United Way.
Their efforts have contributed billions of dollars into the Canadian economy, and the jobs at the Oshawa Plant matter not only to our community, but Ontario and to Canada as a whole.
Following the 2008 financial crisis, GM has returned to profitability after shedding its debt thanks to the investment of the people of Ontario and Canada, as well as sacrifices made by the workers and retirees.
While record profits should have resulted in reinvestment into the Oshawa plant, it has not.
We have never felt more uncertainty about the future of General Motors in Oshawa than we do now.
It is time for GM to commit and bring new products to Oshawa.
Our community has earned it.