FILE PHOTO: The logo of Ford is seen on a 2020 Ford Explorer car at Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. June 24, 2019. REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski
TORONTO (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (F.N) will lay off about 185 employees in September at a Canadian manufacturing plant in Oakville, Ontario, with the possibility of more layoffs in January, the union local said on Friday.
Ford employs approximately 4,600 workers at the Oakville plant.
“We have been arguing as a Local for the past several weeks trying to persuade the company from somehow avoiding this scenario but to no avail,” Dave Thomas, president of Unifor Local 707, in Oakville, Ontario, said in a note to members that was posted on the union’s website. “As always, it’s based on a business decision and it all comes down to dollars and cents.”
Ford could not be reached immediately for comment.
In addition to the September layoffs, the plant will slow production as of Aug. 1, cutting one shift and reducing hours, Thomas said.
Ford’s Oakville plant produces the Ford Edge, Ford Flex, Lincoln Nautilus, and Lincoln MKX.
Reporting by Moira Warburton; Editing by Leslie Adler