Hon. Doug Ford
Premier of Ontario
Room 281 -Legislative Building
Queen’s Park
Toronto, ON, M7A 1A1
October 18, 2021
Dear Premier Ford,
As you are aware, on Friday October 15, 2021 Stellantis announced that they are cutting the second shift at the Windsor Assembly Plant. This will equate to 1,800 direct job losses, with thousands more projected from feeder plants. As you are well aware, in 2020, the third shift was eliminated, affecting nearly 1,500 direct jobs plus additional spin-off jobs in my region. In my community, we have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.
Stellantis employees are sleepless at night, worrying about their financial future, and worried their kids won’t have the opportunity to stay and raise their families in Windsor. Workers in Windsor-Essex deserve to have job security and a government that fights for the protection of their jobs. We are a city built on automotive jobs and are known as the automotive capital of Canada. We need to create an auto-strategy that focuses on bringing new investments and new technologies that help us build for the future of automotive manufacturing. We must address the semiconductor shortage by building a plant here in Ontario, which will not only create more jobs but secure thousands across the province including in Windsor. The provincial government must also assist workers affected by job losses by providing additional training to those who qualify, as well as bridging any shortfalls for unemployment insurance.
I will never give up on Windsor’s auto workers and their families. There were missed opportunities by your government to help workers at Oshawa’s General Motors Plant, Nemak Windsor Aluminum Plant and at the Windsor Assembly Plant’s loss of the third shift –but it is not too late to act on this now. This pandemic has highlighted the need for Ontario made products, instead of relying on global partners. This is why I am calling for immediate intervention to save built-in Ontario automotive and manufacturing.
Additional funding for the automotive manufacturing sector is necessary and welcomed. However, any additional funding that is provided must have conditional requirements and consequences for not fulfilling those requirements. Windsor-Essex residents need assurance that government funding is seen as an investment into our community and to ensure that this funding stays in our community.
I ask that you please join me in fighting for my community.
Sincerely,
(Original signed)
Lisa Gretzky, MPP
Windsor West
CC: Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development -Hon. Monte McNaughton
Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade -Hon. Victor Fedeli