GM laying off hundreds of CAMI employees

Hamilton Spectator

28-04-2025

General Motors is temporarily halting and then reducing production of the BrightDrop electric delivery van at Ingersoll's CAMI Assembly Plant. The union representing the workers said it is devastating for Unifor members, their families, and the entire Ingersoll community.Employees were told of their fate last Friday and sent home. 'This is a crushing blow to hundreds of working families in Ingersoll and the surrounding region who depend on this plant,' said Unifor National President Lana Payne. 'General Motors must do everything in its power to mitigate job loss during this downturn, and all levels of government must step up to support Canadian auto workers and Canadian-made products.' Mike Van Boekel is the Chair of Unifor Local 88 and explained the news didn't come as a surprise. 'Our sales have been slow, and we've been doing rotating layoffs so every two weeks a shift would work then another shift would work, but we just got back to two shifts in February where everyone was back. Every month has been better, but not where we want or need.' He added GM thought they would hit a home run with the electric-powered vans, but despite a significant increase in sales year over year, Van Boekel said the product just hasn't caught on yet. Unifor and GM ratified a new contract in September of last year, meaning any employee laid off receives 70 per cent of their full wage. 'It's enough to keep food on their table, but it's tough to lose about a third of your wages and that lasts up to two full years depending on seniority,' explained Van Boekel. 'With young families, you take a third off and that hits pretty hard.' Unifor has started what Van Boekel called an action centre in the union hall when 80 members were laid off about five weeks ago. He added employees have options. 'That will get a lot bigger because we are going to add 450 people to it. We have already met a few times and will try to mitigate the layoffs and have packages available to entice people to retire or if people are on the fence and not sure they want to stay with GM, maybe give them some seed money to take a different direction if they want.' Van Boekel is hoping up to 100 employees will take retirement packages and added there are three distinct demographics at the plant. 'We have 165 of our most senior people left who can retire, and then there is a big drop down to 20-year people with hundreds of employees. The bottom group is between eight and 10 years. The bottom two are the largest numbers. The goal is to keep hiring.' One thousand truck sales per month would mean one shift can work full-time. 'Walmart in the US took 700 as a test fleet. They are telling us they want to make millions of home deliveries. It could lead to tens of thousands of orders, and those are the ones we need.' He added Verizon ordered 100 as a test fleet. IKEA is also looking at making more deliveries and is trying out some of the vehicles. 'Some of the bigger North American companies are trying them and we are in heavy talks with Canada Post, and they are looking at potentially 12 thousand vehicles over a couple of years.' Van Boekel said there have been ongoing conversations with GM, government officials and Unifor because the plant is large and has enormous capacity. 'They could get a little creative and try to figure out another product we could take that would fit into our plant. I know those talks are going on.' He added he is confident there is a market for the electric delivery van, and it can be built to order as an American company is looking to do just that. 'The truck is new, but we are getting good feedback from customers on markets we never thought of. We are going to bring the 2026 model ahead into May, that's why we are going back for two weeks. We have a huge customer who has our biggest order yet, and that is Kroger.' Kroger is the largest grocery store chain in the United States and Van Boekel said the plant can add refrigeration units to the trucks and they ordered 1000 of them. 'That's going to be our biggest order, and it will be a test fleet for them. They are across every state and they are huge. We have other companies asking for a hard roof on them to attach ladders, piping, and all that for tradespeople.' He added a company in New York is turning the product into motorhomes. A local business owner also reached out to Van Boekel. '(Former EZT Mayor) Don McKay called me from Your Food Market in Woodstock and said they were looking for a delivery van. It would look pretty cool to have one driving around in Oxford County. We need more exposure.' 'My thoughts went immediately to those who will be directly affected at the plant and their families. The town is working with its partners to make sure the resources they need are available,' said Ingersoll Mayor Brian Petrie. 'I know that GM wants Cami to be successful and is committed to that. This is a very unfortunate situation.' Petrie added he is confident that GM will be producing vehicles in Ingersoll for a long time to come. 'We have a very skilled workforce that I would put up against anyone in the world and there is no other place in North America that can offer what Ingersoll can.' He also explained there are jobs available in the town for those looking. 'Unifor has an action centre that is a partnership with the federal and provincial government to help the workers who are affected, but there are other opportunities as well in the community. IMT recently expanded and has over 100 positions available. We are also expecting future industrial investments in the town that will also create opportunities. Unifor is calling on all levels of government to back Canadian workers, strengthen Canada's industrial strategy, and support Canadian-made products with procurement dollars. 'The BrightDrop electric delivery van is built in Canada by Canadian workers — it's the smart choice for Canadian business, government agencies and for our economy,' added Payne. 'Procurement and industrial policy go hand in hand. Now is the time for Canada to show leadership by investing in Canadian manufacturing.' Unifor said actions by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Canadian-made vehicles and auto parts have sent shockwaves through the industry, creating uncertainty across the North American auto sector. 'The reality is the U.S. is creating industry turmoil. Trump's short-sighted tariffs and rejection of EV technology are disrupting investment and freezing future order projections,' said Payne. 'This is creating an opening for China and other foreign automakers to dominate the global EV market while the North American industry risks falling behind.' She added the world is moving rapidly towards electrification, and if Canada and the U.S. hit pause, the ability to catch up could be lost. Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector, representing 320,000 workers.