OTTAWA — The Canadian Auto Workers union will meet this week with Ford to discuss ways to keep the one-shift assembly plant in St. Thomas, Ont. open — although CAW president Buzz Hargrove said the auto maker hasn't given him any sign it will close the plant any time soon.
Hargrove said he was misquoted in a Detroit media report Monday as saying Ford planned to close the plant.
''There's no concern today about the Ford St. Thomas plant, contrary to what (the report) said,'' Hargrove told The Canadian Press.
But given the trend of one-shift plants closing — such as the General Motors van plant in Scarborough, Ont., the Ford truck plant in Oshawa, Ont., and the GM plant in Ste-Therese, Que. — Hargrove said he's worried about the future of the St. Thomas plant.
''Any time there's a plant on one shift . . . there's a good chance that plant will close,'' he said.
The Canadian automotive industry has been hit by a spate of plant closures and layoffs in recent years as the so-called Big Three North American automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler — have cut tens of thousands of jobs to deal with falling sales, a shift in the market to Japanese rivals and the impact of rising gasoline prices on vehicle sales.
In Canada, the manufacturing sector centred in Ontario and Quebec has been the hardest hit by the industry streamlining, especially in blue-collar cities such as Windsor, St. Catharines, Kitchener and Oshawa.
Earlier this year, auto giant General Motors Corp. announced the closure of the third shift at its Oshawa, Ont. truck plant by the end of the year, wiping out 1,200 jobs.
The St. Thomas plant employs 2,460 people, according to Ford's website.
The plant, which opened 40 years ago, once produced the Ford Maverick, Pinto, Fairmont and Escort, as well as the Crown Victoria, Mercury Zephyr, Grand Marquis and Marauder.
Now it only makes the Crown Victoria and the Grand Marquis.
But Hargrove said he's encouraged Ford will begin producing the Lincoln Town Car out of the St. Thomas plant in the coming months.
''That'll add more production to the plant . . . that's still all good news. There's no short term plans, which was indicated in that article, for closing that plant. It's the long-term that we're concerned about,'' he said.