For Scott Richards, an electrician who’s been with General Motors for 32 years, news that the auto giant will cease production at its Oshawa plant brought on a grim sense of déjà vu.On Monday morning, dozens of workers left the facility to stand in the frigid rain, having stopped work as they waited for details on the company’s plans.“It’s sombre in there. This is the third time I’ve been through this, and it’s awful,” said Richards, who has worked at two other plants that are now closed.“I’ll be OK, because I could probably take a package and retire. But I really feel awful for the people who’ve been here 10 or 12 years.”GM officially announced Monday it will stop production in Oshawa at the end of 2019, confirming media reports from Sunday evening.The move, sparked anger and uncertainty in the GTA and across Canada as politicians and workers reacted to the decision. It’s part of a broad restructuring at GM, which is also ceasing production at four plants in Ohio, Michigan and Maryland, in order to cut costs and focus more on autonomous and electric vehicles, the company said.Richards, whose grandfather and father both worked for GM, doesn’t expect his daughter to carry on the family auto work tradition. “I’d tell her to go into something else. And that’s sad, because I’ve made a good living here,” he said.“This is a place where you can work, make enough to buy a house, put a little bit away. And places like that are fewer and further between.”According to GM’s website, production at the Oshawa plant began on Nov. 7, 1953. In the 1980s, it employed roughly 23,000 people. Now, GM spokesperson says, there are about 2,600 hourly workers and about 300 contract and salary employees.Those workers take immense pride in what they’re doing, Richards said. “This is the best product in the world. There’s no reason for th ...
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