'In a fight with one man': Trump's tariffs have autoworkers in Oshawa, Ont., on edge

For more than a century, Oshawa, Ont., has been the city of autoworkers.

The decades-old Canadian Automotive Museum in the downtown core, murals depicting locally made vehicles and the city's beloved Oshawa Generals hockey team, named after one of the auto giants, are all symbols of that glorious — and often treacherous — history.

The auto industry has gone through ups and downs since its inception. Workers have weathered economic recessions, layoffs and devastating plant closures, including in 2019 when General Motors stopped production of vehicles in Oshawa for nearly two years.

But nothing has prepared them for the cloud of uncertainty brought on by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, that include 25 per cent duties on imported vehicles with temporary reprieve for some parts compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement.

Many say the impact of tariffs is a threat far greater than anything else they have experienced.

Trump has said his goal is to move manufacturing jobs back to the United States. That means hundreds of thousands of  jobs are on the line in Ontario alone, including those in the automobile production and supply chain in Oshawa.

The president of Unifor Local 222, whose members include autoworkers at the GM assembly plant in Oshawa, said the union's latest fight is different from typical challenges in the sector.

"This is an unusual situation to be in because we're really in a fight with one man and his small group and his administration," Jeff Gray said in an interview at his office, with "Elbows Up" shirts folded on the table in front of him.

Since the union doesn't have a direct line to influence Trump, their only option is to lobby employers and Canadian politicians, he said.

"The history is deep, and so many families, so many livelihoods are attached to the auto sector here in Oshawa that we will do whatever is necessary to keep that production (going)," said Gray, who has been on a leave of absence from his job at the GM plant since becoming the president of Local 222.

Oshawa's automotive history began in the late 19th century after McLaughlin, a carriage production business, moved into the city. McLaughlin started manufacturing automobiles in 1907 and merged with Chevrolet Canada to form General Motors Canada in 1918.

While the industry's growth wasn't linear, General Motors kept expanding its footprint and operation, hiring more workers and increasing production until the late 20th century.

At one point in the 1970s, tens of thousands of people from Oshawa and the surrounding areas either worked at the auto production plants or for companies that were part of the supply chain, workers said. The industry was booming, and so was the city.

That's when Lance Livingstone became an autoworker, following his father's and two brothers' footsteps.