Global automotive parts manufacturing company Nemak, headquartered in García, announced on Tuesday, July 16, that it planned to close down its aluminium casting plant at Windsor by mid-2020. This decision is a result of the early phase-out of an export programme with a customer in China, according to Nemak.
Armando Tamez, CEO of Nemak, said in a media release, "Given our outlook on capacity utilization and volumes in Windsor, we have made the decision to end production at this facility."
About 90 per cent of the 400,000 cylinder engine blocks produced annually in Nemak’s Windsor plant was destined for Cadillac vehicles at GM's Shanghai plant. So, the early phase-out of the export programme is expected to reduce Nemak's use of the plant to less than 10 per cent of capacity.
Currently, the plant has approximately 270 employees, mostly associated with Unifor Local 200, which is a local union of the general trade union Unifor.
On hearing the news, Unifor Local 200 president John D’Agnolo said, “It’s devastating, but we’re going to do what we can to keep that work here in Windsor.”
He further informed that the union would hold information meetings on Friday, where members would discuss possible solutions.
"We want to keep that site open and we're looking for new investment and we'll do what we can. We'll obviously have to have some discussions with the government to see if we can keep the work in Windsor," said D’Agnolo.
Nemak spokesperson Louise Gaudette said, “We recognize it's not easy for everybody. You know everybody is going to lose their job at some point here and we're going to try to make that transition as best as it can be.”
Windsor Aluminium Plant represents approximately one per cent of Nemak’s consolidated revenues.
In 2015, Nemak, along with the Province of Ontario, had invested some $15 million in its Windsor plant and created 80 jobs in Windsor. Later on, in 2017, the federal government funded $3 million, intending to create up to 70 new jobs.
Tamez said, "We are deeply grateful to the many people who have contributed to our business in Windsor over the years and we will make every effort to support them during this period.”
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