The Chrysler logo is seen outside the FCA Windsor Assembly plant in Windsor, Ont., on Oct. 5, 2018.REBECCA COOK/Reuters
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is cutting the third shift at its Windsor Assembly Plant beginning June 29.
The automaker says it notified Unifor Thursday about the change that will affect about 1,500 employees.
The move keeps the shift operational for an additional three months. Originally scheduled to shut down last September, the shift’s closing was given a four-month reprieve in November to last until March 31.
FCA says it made the decision to match volumes with demand as production of the Dodge Grand Caravan is phased out at the end of May.
“The company will make every effort to place indefinitely laid off hourly employees in open full-time positions as they become available based on seniority and will offer retirement packages to eligible employees,” spokeswoman LouAnn Gosselin wrote in an e-mail.
Unifor Local 444 president Dave Cassidy held a news conference in Windsor to discuss the impact.
“We are going to do every damn thing we can to get everyone back to work!” the union said in a tweet.
The plant, which produces the Chrysler Pacifica and its hybrid version, as well as the Dodge Grand Caravan, has about 6,100 employees.
FCA announced last year that it would invest US$4.5 billion in Michigan to build a new assembly plant and upgrade other operations and create 6,500 jobs in the process.
The planned cut in Windsor will come about six months after General Motors ended production at its assembly plant in Oshawa, Ont., at a loss of about 2,600 unionized workers.
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