Unifor, the union that represents workers at the GM CAMI automotive assembly plant in Ingersoll, has announced some employees will head back to work early next month.
The roughly 1,600 workers the plant employs have been off the job for most of the year, with the exception of three weeks in the late spring, due to parts shortages. Over the holiday weekend, the company announced another two-week shutdown until October 25. However, new information indicates that production will be up and running again by November 1.
"Once we go back up, they do not want us to go back down until it is time to retool," read a statement from Plant Chair for Unifor 88 Mike Van Boekel. "Trades as well as some paint and welding people will be needed the last week of October to get the plant re-started."
While securing semiconductor parts remains an ongoing issue globally, it's likely that the plant will only run one shift throughout November with hopes of having two shifts going by December.
"I hope that calms the waters a bit, and hopefully sheds some light on what is going on," Van Boekel added. "It has been a very long stretch but hopefully there is a light at the end of the tunnel."
Late last month, GM and Unifor announced that CAMI will begin production a compact all-electric commercial vehicle starting in 2023. The announcement followed a $1-billion deal signed at the start of the year for a larger commercial electric vehicle to be assembled at the plant.