Tag Archives: Ford St. Thomas Assembly Plant

02.09.10
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Ontario looks beyond the struggling auto sector

Ford Canada St. Thomas Assembly Plant


Ontario’s auto industry is facing ongoing consolidation with the upcoming closing of a Ford Motor Co. plant in St. Thomas in 2011. Last year, General Motors Corp. closed a light truck plant in Oshawa. Auto analyst Dennis DesRosiers, president of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. in Richmond Hill, Ont., says Ontario’s auto industry has lost 50,000 jobs since 2006 and has been hurt by long-term structural change as well as cyclical issues related to the economy.

It is also becoming increasingly difficult to compete with lower-cost plants in parts of the U.S. and Mexico that are not unionized, he says. As a result, he expects Canada’s share of total North American auto production — virtually all of which takes place in Ontario — to drop to as low as 12% during the next four to five years from its current perch of 16%.

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01.22.10
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First you lose the vehicle, then you put people out of work


Sarnia’s police chief has come out swinging in support of Ontario auto workers.

Phil Nelson said Thursday he’s ticked off that Ford Canada is discontinuing production of the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor and has asked the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police to take a stand.

The Crown Vic is a police “workhorse” that’s kept thousands of workers in St. Thomas, Ont. employed for decades, he said.

“The fact that jobs are being lost, that really annoys me. We do crime prevention through social development. Part of that is keeping people working. It’s like a one-two punch. First you lose the vehicle, which has been very good to police services. Now you’re putting people out of work.”
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11.21.09
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St. Thomas/Elgin needs to go green to jump-start economy, says Jack Layton

From the Times-Journal:
An industrial strategy, taking aim at eco-friendly jobs and technology, is what’s needed to help the flagging economy in Elgin-St. Thomas.
So said federal NDP leader Jack Layton who, Friday, met with a dozen local labour leaders, including representatives from Ford’s St. Thomas Assembly Plant, at the CAW Hall, north of Talbotville.
Irene Mathyssen, NDP MP for London-Fanshawe, attended as well.
“The message is unanimous: Manufacturing is in a crisis here and the federal government just doesn’t understand the magnitude of it,” Layton said. “What we need is an industrial strategy that’s going to put this, (the) best manufacturing work force in the world, back to work.”
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11.17.09
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The (Proudly Built in St. Thomas) Police Interceptor Is Dead. Long Live The Police Interceptor!


According to Ford, the new Police Interceptor was developed in conjunction with the automaker’s Police Advisory Board and will exceed the Crown Victoria’s abilities in performance, durability and safety. “We have heard the repeated requests from the law enforcement community to continue uninterrupted support of the law enforcement community,” Ford’s Mark Fields said in a statement. “Ford is answering the call with the new Police Interceptor – engineered and built in America.”

We’re assuming Fields doesn’t mean North America. A “Made in USA” label would differentiate the new Police Interceptor from most of its competitors and even the original Crown Victoria, which was most recently built in St. Thomas, Ontario. Chevy is planning to import the new Caprice from Australia — it’s a rebadged Holden Statesman — and the Dodge Charger is made in Brampton, Ontario.
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11.07.09
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London seeking $150 million offered Ford Canada’s St. Thomas Assembly Plant

Posted by Ian: St. Thomas and Elgin county lose the Ford plant and as a result the economic impact will be compounded via support operations like Lear Seating, trucking companies and CN who relied heavily on the St. Thomas Assembly Plant and yet London wants the entire $150 million offered by the province for its own benefit. It’s bad enough we have to deal with the London-centered school board and St. Joseph’s Health Centre for psychiatric services. However, you can ask the question, why didn’t St. Thomas staff and administration beat London to the punch? Or is that because they have no long-term economic plan in place. Where is the Economic Development Corp. and the Chamber of Commerce in this dark chapter? London is taking concrete steps to diversify its economy (read agri-business and digital media), while in St. Thomas we’re still trying to entice an automaker to locate here. Following is the full story from the London Free Press …

The City of London is going after $150 million the Ontario government is believed to have offered to save Ford of Canada’s St. Thomas assembly plant, Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best said.

The city and region could use the cash to fund a host of ambitious economic development schemes, she said.

“We continue to be impacted in a severe way. If there is money for the plant, then surely there must be money to invest in initiatives we are looking at.”

Ford Motor Co. will close the St. Thomas plant in September 2011, cutting 1,600 jobs when it ends production of the Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis and Crown Victoria.
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11.04.09
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A future without Ford – the new reality

By Kyle Rea
St. Thomas Times-Journal
As fallout continues from the news that Ford’s St. Thomas Assembly Plant will shut its doors in fall 2011, three of the biggest casualties locally — Southwold township, the Lear Seating plant and the Elgin-St. Thomas United Way — are taking a look at a future without the plant.
Last Friday, leaders of the Canadian Auto Workers union confirmed what has long been suspected, that the St. Thomas Ford facility will shut its doors in September, 2011, as the company looks to phase out production of the large cars manufactured there — the Crown Victoria, Lincoln Town Car and Grand Marquis. When that happens, 1,400 people will lose their jobs.
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11.03.09
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Ford’s closure of St. Thomas assembly plant to affect thousands of spinoff jobs

crown vic
TORONTO — The impact of the closure of a Ford assembly plant in southwestern Ontario will extend far beyond the plant itself, costing the region thousands of spinoff jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue, according to union officials and local politicians.

Ford (NYSE:F) announced Friday the plant in St. Thomas, near London, will close in 2011 due to a lack of demand for the full-sized sedans it produces.

The closure of a major manufacturing facility can be disastrous to the region in which it’s located, and Canadian Auto Workers president Ken Lewenza estimated that 6,000 spinoff jobs will be lost above and beyond the 1,400 workers directly employed by the plant.
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11.03.09
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Ford turns up nose at unprecedented offer to save St. Thomas Assembly Plant

In a last-ditch effort to save the St. Thomas assembly plant, the province and Canadian Auto Workers made offers of cash and unprecedented concessions — but Ford Motor Co. said no.

The province offered as much as $150 million and the union told the company to cherry-pick details of any collective agreement and put it on the table, CAW national president Ken Lewenza said yesterday.

“(Ford of Canada vice-president) Joe Hendricks told me directly he could not get a better deal from any government than the one the Ontario government was prepared to put in front of Ford Motor Co. He was clear about that,” Lewenza said. “They were prepared to do more than any jurisdiction in the world. The Ontario government was prepared to be a major player.”

Instead, Ford will close the St. Thomas assembly plant in September 2011, cutting 1,600 jobs.

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11.01.09
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80% of CAW Local 1520 membership vote in favour of new deal

TORONTO, Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ – Thousands of CAW members working at Ford facilities in Oakville, Windsor, St. Thomas and Bramalea have voted in favour of a new agreement, ratifying the deal by 83 per cent during a series of meetings held over the past two days. The deal was reached on October 30 between the two sides.

“No one should mistake workers’ approval as satisfaction with the new agreement,” said CAW President Ken Lewenza. “Members had faith in the union to negotiate the best agreement possible and protect their interests over the long term, but the problems faced by industry cannot be resolved at the bargaining table.”

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