General Motors is hiring temporary workers to boost production at its Fort Wayne plant in response to new US tariffs. While Oshawa output remains stable for now, the move reflects shifting trade and labour pressures across North America.
General Motors has announced plans to increase vehicle production at its Fort Wayne Assembly plant in Indiana, a facility that builds Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks. The decision comes in the wake of new US tariffs on imported vehicles, a development that is already beginning to reshape operational priorities across the company’s North American network.
In a statement issued this week, GM said it would be “making operational adjustments at Fort Wayne Assembly, including hiring temporary employees, to support current manufacturing and business needs”. The company noted that it “continuously updates and revises production schedules as part of our standard process of evaluating and aligning to manage vehicle inventory”.
”The Fort Wayne facility shares production responsibilities for the Silverado and Sierra with GM’s Oshawa Assembly Plant in Ontario, which employs over 3,000 people, and its Silao Assembly Plant in Mexico”
Although GM did not specify the number of temporary staff to be recruited, the move signals a shift in focus toward domestic capacity at a time when cross-border vehicle trade faces growing political and economic friction. A GM spokesperson told CTV News that no physical upgrades were being made to the plant and that the new hires would support “some additional production” as well as provide “backfill for employees during their summer vacations”.
The Fort Wayne facility shares production responsibilities for the Silverado and Sierra with GM’s Oshawa Assembly Plant in Ontario, which employs over 3,000 people, and its Silao Assembly Plant in Mexico. At present, the Oshawa facility exclusively builds the Silverado.
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Despite the developments in Indiana, Unifor, the union representing autoworkers in Canada, maintains that Canadian operations are not yet affected. “The Oshawa Assembly Plant continues to operate at current production levels,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President. She emphasised the union’s position that it “will continue to be engaged with General Motors and fully expects all automakers to maintain their Canadian footprints”.
”We have two choices here folks. We either roll over and let this guy (Trump) run us over with a cement truck 15 times because they don’t care about us or we get up and fight like we have never fought before”
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford
Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded to questions about the situation during a press conference in Barrie but declined to comment directly on the Fort Wayne expansion. Instead, he reiterated his broader concerns about US protectionism and its impact on Canada’s automotive sector. “We have two choices here folks. We either roll over and let this guy (Trump) run us over with a cement truck 15 times because they don’t care about us or we get up and fight like we have never fought before,” said Ford. “I believe in the latter. We need to fight, continue fighting and make sure the Americans feel the pain.”
As of now, GM has not issued a formal response to questions about any potential changes to output or staffing levels at Oshawa. But with tariffs reshaping the economics of vehicle assembly across the region, observers will be watching closely for any signals of a longer-term shift in the manufacturer’s North American production strategy.
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