OSHAWA -- High gasoline prices and a shift toward smaller more fuel-efficient vehicles are being cited as factors in plans by General Motors to close the truck plant in Oshawa and three other North American plants.
The move will eliminate up to 2,600 jobs at the Oshawa facility.
GM Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner made the announcement this morning in Wilmington, Del., in advance of the company's annual meeting.
The Oshawa truck plant is expected to close in 2009.
"We don't have plans to allocate future products," Mr. Wagoner said which is believed to mean the closure will be permanent.
He said higher gasoline prices represent a "structural change" in the market and the decision to close the plant is "by and large, permanent."
Two U.S. plants and one in Mexico will also be closed.
One shift has already been cut at the truck plant and GM announced in April that a second shift would be cut. However, the work was supposed to continue temporarily under a deal reached later with the Canadian Auto Workers Union.
Retired GM worker Dave Boissoin drove his silver GMC Sierra truck to the plant to show his support this morning when he heard the news.
Mr. Boissoin, 50, retired two years ago "so they could keep the plant running and the younger guys could keep wrking. This is shocking.
"Now they're going to close the whole place down," he told the Toronto Star.
Mr. Boissoin, who has a nephew, brother and sister working in the plant, blamed GM for the latest job cuts.
"They have to know oil's going to go to $200 a barrel. They just wanted to make money on the big vehicles. It's shocking how unprepared they really were."
Robert Nichol, 41, got off the night shift at the car plant at 6:30 a.m., but stayed around to show his support.
"The younger guys in the car plant know they'll lose their jobs because the older guys from the truck plant will get them. It's a shock, especially after we just settled the contract. Everybody was finally relaxed and now all our lives are on hold."
Newsdurhamregion.com has several reporters working on this story and will have updates and reaction throughout the day.
--- with files from Tony Van Alphen, Toronto Star business reporter, and Carola Vyhnak, Torstar News Services
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