FCA Canada has again extended the life of the third shift at its minivan plant in Windsor, Ontario, according to a Facebook post by the union representing employees there.
In a notice to its members posted to the site, Unifor Local 444 says its executives met with senior FCA officials Wednesday afternoon and were told the shift will run “until at least the end of 2019.”
The union did not say why the automaker extended the life of the third shift. FCA had originally said the shift would be eliminated Sept. 30 but then extended the shift until Oct. 21 to “accommodate a large order.”
“This is not a final solution,” Unifor’s online statement reads, “but every one of these extensions provides us more opportunities to work with the company to get a final resolve that maintains our third shift and current workforce for the future.”
FCA Canada said it was preparing a public statement.
"We've just got to keep plucking away as we keep meeting with the company and the federal government," Unifor President Jerry Dias told Automotive News Canada on Wednesday.
FCA in March said it would end the third shift at the Windsor plant amid sluggish North American sales for the Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans it builds. The third shift’s end would put about 1,500 of 6,000 workers at the plant out of a job.