Paul McDonald and Rob Hindi/CKLW AM 800
Ford Motor Company says about 150 jobs will be added to its Windsor Engine Complex when F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks begin production in Oakville in 2026.
The automaker announced Thursday morning, it will spend $3-billion US to expand Super Duty production, which includes installing assembly and integrated stamping operations at the Oakville facility.
Production at the plant in Oakville ceased in May after the last Ford Edge rolled off the assembly line.
Ford’s original plan was to build Battery Electric Vehicles at the plant in Oakville but announced in April its decision to delay the launch from 2025 to 2027.
Since the automaker announced the delay, Unifor said it “engaged in negotiations with the company to push for additional support mechanisms for workers and an accelerated resumption of production at Oakville.”
Unifor Local 200 represents about 1,800 Ford workers in Windsor including almost 800 at the Essex Engine Plant.
President John D’Agnolo says Ford’s announcement is good news for Oakville and Windsor.
“Obviously when you increase production on the Super Duty Truck, it’s obviously going to come down to the Windsor location and that means more machines, that means more jobs for our community and I’m so excited about it,” says D’Agnolo. It’s going to take some time but there will be more machines coming into the plants which creates a ton more jobs and I’m excited about it. Nothing’s better than making sure our Ford workers are secure here.”
D’Agnolo says the union was elated after hearing the news from the company.
“We know the Super Duty is their top seller and we knew that, and the future is there because they talk about how important the future is for that truck and any changes to that truck, Oakville will be having also the opportunity to be building it there so we’re so excited for the Oakville members.”
Workers at the Windsor Engine Complex will manufacture more V8 engines for Super Duty.
Workers in Oakville, who are represented by Unifor Local 707 would have been laid off for more than three years if the automaker moved forward with its launch of BEV production in 2027.