Up to 60 long-term employees are losing their jobs as Martinrea International closes its auto parts plant in Dresden.

Unifor Local 127 National Representative Jeff McFadden says the company notified workers several weeks ago but only went public with the information Monday.

McFadden was “shocked” by the news when the company informed him a year and a half ago.
Workers at the plant were providing parts to Stellantis in Windsor. The company, in a statement to the media, said three contracts including the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Chrysler 300C ended. It supplied most of the work at the Dresden facility. McFadden says the vehicles were “coming to the end of their run” and Stellantis is making major changes, most notably moving into the electric vehicle market.

They did not renew their contract,” says McFadden.
“There was no new work to go into Dresden to replace the work that they had,” he said adding he believed the company did try to find more work to keep the facility open.

Any remaining contracts from Dresden will be transferred to the company’s Ridgetown facility.

McFadden says the tradespeople in Dresden were long-time employees and made what would be considered mid-range wages for the auto parts industry.

Unifor has not yet set up a help center for the workers. McFadden says there are a number of companies hiring in the area and he’s passing along the opportunities to the workers.

Most of the workers were laid off just before Christmas. A little more than a dozen people continue to work inside the plant to wrap up production. It’s not clear how long they will be there.