Transforming GM in Oshawa – Time to Focus on the Future
A letter from Scott Bell, GM Canada president and managing director
2019-12-16
OSHAWA, Ont. (December 16) — For many, the transformation of General Motors in Oshawa is emblematic of wider changes in the economy. Change is hard and 2019 was especially so, for many of GM’s Oshawa employees and the wider Oshawa Community. I want to sincerely thank all our employees at Oshawa for consistently demonstrating such genuine pride in the vehicles they built. The facility has such a celebrated history. But the Oshawa plant is not closing – it is transforming. And a few valuable lessons have been learned along the way.
First, business transformation is all about people, partners and the community. Under the agreement we reached with the Union in May, the majority of GM Oshawa hourly workers will receive their defined benefit pension, continued benefits, a maximum lump sum of $150,000, a certificate toward a new GM vehicle and paid training toward any new career they may pursue. Three hundred GM hourly employees will find work in our new Oshawa Auto Parts manufacturing business which will ramp up operation in Q1 of 2020. Other salaried employees have already transferred to our other operations including our Canadian Technical Centre campuses in Markham and Oshawa, our propulsion plant in St. Catharines and our assembly plant in Ingersoll.
Our Oshawa community partners also stepped forward in 2019 and we thank them greatly for that. Some of the first calls we received came from our new Oshawa mayor and the president of Durham College. Like us, they were receiving inquiries from local employers eager to hire highly productive GM workers. GM dealers also called with offers of help – who better than the person who built your car to service it at the dealership? Work began quickly to create an online auto employee portal to link workers, employers and training. TD Bank in Oshawa stepped forward with support that broadened the portal for use by all auto workers in Durham. Durham College’s recent job fair was attended by about 40 companies. Several hundred auto workers took the opportunity to learn first-hand about approximately 5,000 job opportunities in the GTA. Working with Unifor and the government of Ontario, we are well on our way to helping every Oshawa employee land solidly on their feet in 2020.
Employees are not the only ones impacted by business transformations – communities feel it too. Early on we saw that this was an important time to give back. To underscore GM’s sustainability as an Oshawa employer, we announced a positive move for environmental sustainability in the Region. In 2020, we will transfer two parks to the City of Oshawa including 87-acres of protected Lake Ontario waterfront property owned by GM. This will join up Oshawa’s waterfront trail system for its citizens’ benefit and help protect important wetlands for generations to come.
In times of change, it’s best to focus on the future. GM is investing C$170 million to transform the Oshawa assembly plant into a new GM Auto Parts manufacturing operation and to create the 55-acre ‘McLaughlin Advanced Technology Track’ where GM software engineering teams will put their ‘code on the road’ for real world testing in autonomous, electric and other advanced vehicles. Our Canadian Technical Centre campuses in Oshawa and Markham are now partnering with Canada’s leading universities and over the past two years we have engaged with over 1,000 emerging Canadian tech companies. We have the largest automotive software development team in Canada, and we’re GM’s largest advanced technology centre outside of the U.S.
Positive transformations are driven by a clear sense of greater purpose. GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra has always made that crystal clear. That means taking the lead in self-driving technology, electric vehicles and new business models for urban transportation. Our vision is a world with Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions and Zero Congestion. It won’t come without hard work and change, but in Oshawa, we are embracing that vision for our future.
Scott Bell
President and Managing Director
General Motors Canada