Workers at a Canadian Plant that Supplies the C8 Corvette’s LT2 Engine Blocks Have Walked Off the Job in Labor Dispute

By
Mitch Talley
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11
14779

Workers at a Canadian Plant that Supplies the C8 Corvette's LT2 Engine Blocks Have Walked Off the Job in Labor Dispute


Production of key parts of the new 6.2-liter LT2 V8 that will power the upcoming mid-engine Corvette appears to be moving from north of the border to south of the border – but apparently not without a fight.

Mexican automotive supplier Nemak had originally planned to produce the aluminum engine blocks and bedplates for the C8 engines at its facility in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

However, Nemak announced in mid-July that it would be closing the Windsor plant and moving production to a facility in Monterrey, Mexico.

In response, Unifor workers at the Windsor plant have vowed to halt production there until Nemak changes its mind.

“Nemak is out of business until further notice,” union president Jerry Dias said this week, standing outside the Windsor facility. “We will be here until we have a solution.”

Workers at a Canadian GM Plant that Supply the C8 Corvette's LT2 Engine Blocks Have Walked Off the Job in Labor Dispute

Photo Credit: UniforTheUnion / Twitter


Nemak says it made the decision to close the Windsor plant because of decreased demand for the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine blocks it produced for the Chinese market and noted that even with the addition of the LT2 engine and a 3.0-liter LM2 inline-six engine originally contracted for Windsor, the facility would still be operating at less than 10 percent of capacity by 2020.

“Nemak is disappointed that Unifor decided to organize an illegal stoppage to our operations,” the company said in a news release, “and will pursue an application with the Ontario Labor Relations Board to cease Unifor’s blockade.”

Nemak described the strike as illegal and says it will contact the Ontario provincial government to have the picket removed.

Dias, meanwhile, says Windsor workers will remain on strike until Nemak changes its decision to close the facility before the end of 2020.

Workers at a Canadian GM Plant that Supply the C8 Corvette's LT2 Engine Blocks Have Walked Off the Job in Labor Dispute


The Unifor Local 200 union leader described the proposed closing of the Windsor facility as “a betrayal of both the workers who generated their profits and the public they siphoned millions from.”

He accused Nemak of taking “millions in government handouts and posting revenues of over $4 billion world-wide” before announcing the plant closure, as well as another $3 million CAD from the Canadian government to develop “new powertrain lightweighting technologies” for aluminum engines.

No word yet on how this would affect 2020 Corvette production, if at all.


Update: Our original headline referred to the facility as a GM Plant when in fact it is a plant run by a supplier to General Motors. We have updated the headline for clarification.


Source:
gmauthority.com

Related:
[VIDEO] The Corvette Mechanic Paul Koerner Gives A Virtual Tour of the C8 Corvette’s LT2 V8 Engine
GM’s Tonawanda Powertrain Facility to Build the LT2 V8 for the 2020 Corvette Stingray
[VIDEO] Corvette Team Shares the 194 MPH Top Speed Video and Other Info on the 2020 Corvette Stingray

 



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11 COMMENTS

  1. July 24th it was announced the Tonawanda, NY plant will be building 40,000 LT2 engines for the C8.

  2. How hard is it, to make all of America’s only Sports Car in US plants? OK..I will let the Canadian plants ,
    slide…but Mexico?

  3. Where is our Orange Clown when we need him? Also where is the great economy that allows a regular citizen to buy even a base Camaro?
    Behold the Fall of Rome….

  4. Shame on Mary Barra, she also made plans to close the Oshawa, ON plant down at the end of 2019 (3000 Jobs) and move everything to Mexico. GM wonders why people, especially Millennials aren’t buying their products. They’re not stupid, why would they buy a product made in Mexico or elsewhere with a 3 year warranty when they can buy a Korean car or Japanese with a 5 year warranty. That’s what I did (Hyundai) my thinking was if I’m buying Foreign junk I might as well save money and get a better warranty!

  5. Good for you Rusty. Hope your piece of crap vehicle lasts at least a couple of years. Too bad Yugos are no longer available. And I’m sure the Korea Republic appreciates your support. Once the country is united again (probably near future), Kim Jong Un will appreciate spending your money on his new missile capable of putting a hole in the roof of your house! GM and all the rest of the manufacturers don’t give a flying flip about Millennials, cause that group of people doesn’t care about where they get their cars or who made them. They are only interested in basic transportation, getting from point A to point B, regardless of what form that takes.

    If you were a GM stock holder (which I am not), you might appreciate Mary Barra doing the things she feels are necessary to provide the greatest ROI for her organization. The days of organized labor holding the companies hostage are long past.

  6. My 2004 Acura TL (assembled in Ohio) had about 10% more American-made parts than my 2016 Corvette has. Just sayin.’

  7. Decision making factors are made by influential executives with decades of financial and automotive experience . Is Mary Barra responsible final decisions on billion dollar plant renovations, plant closings, or projected engineering projects. She is part of the team that takes the heat as well as the glory for a huge corporation forging into the future. What are her credentials ( accomplishments ) that led to this level at GM ?

  8. Pretty sure the stoppage of LT2 engine block manufacture will affect the C8 production due to the just-in-time supply chain philosophy. Not many maintain an inventory of parts anymore due to costs.

  9. Henry you sound like a typical douchebag liberal who complains about everything but does nothing about it! Maybe if you worked as much as you whined, you would actually get somewhere in life!

  10. It looks like the Canadian workers have a legitimate beef with the supplier. American workers seeing their plant shut and jobs moved to Mexico would act in the same way. Unfortunate if it delays getting the LT2 engine blocks to the GM plant in Tonawanda but strikes in the auto business are not unknown, folks.

  11. Why is no-one here putting the blame for our current business situation in Canada on Trudeau & Freeland’s lack of business experience and common-sense in negotiating the new NAFTA or a trade agreement with China???

    It is no wonder that Donald J Trump, XI & most of the World leaders at the G7 in Quebec shunned Trudeau. This is because Trudeau insulted Trump after he had left (a previous NAFTA meeting) on his way to meet with Kim of North Korea & Freeland was over in Europe bad-mouthing Trump in front of the World!

    And Freeland was demanding Climate Change, women’s social-justice causes be written into the new NAFTA agreement!

    And now Trudeau agreed NOT to sign Canada into the new NAFTA, until after the 2020 Federal Election in the USA, after meeting with Nancy Pelosi!

    Like a Canadian auto worker said… “I’m going to blame Trudeau if Canada is left out of the new NAFTA, not Trump”!

    People here in Canada must stop watching the lying MSM that’s brainwashing them & get the World news outside of Canada!

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