London Auto Parts Factory Closure Threatens Over 130 Jobs

Article content An automotive parts supplier is closing its London factory, leaving the future uncertain for more than 130 local workers. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles from Ryan Pyette, Dale Carruthers, Jane Sims, Norman De Bono and others. Plus, the Noon News Roundup newsletter on weekdays and the LFP Weekender newsletter on weekends. London Free Press ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles from Ryan Pyette, Dale Carruthers, Jane Sims, Norman De Bono and others. Plus, the Noon News Roundup newsletter on weekdays and the LFP Weekender newsletter on weekends. 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Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Sign In or Create an Account Email Address or Article content Officials with Autoneum, which has locations worldwide and is headquartered in Switzerland, told The London Free Press they are shutting down operations at their Huron Street plant, where workers make carpets for vehicles. Article content Article content The projected closing date is some time before the end of 2026, company officials said. It’s not clear how many of the 136 London jobs may be transferred to the company’s plant in nearby Tillsonburg. Article content Article content Luis Domingues is London and area director for Unifor, the union that represents 118 unionized workers at the plant. He lamented an “unfortunate trend” facing “Southwestern Ontario automotive assembly plants and automotive parts suppliers.” Article content Closings like this are “very sad and very hard,” he said, for “the economic lives of all citizens of the area.” Article content Formerly known as Magee Rieter Automotive Systems, then Rieter Automotive until it was rebranded as Autoneum in 2011, the northeast London plant has supplied most major automakers since it first opened in 2001. Article content Workers found out on Friday afternoon at a meeting that the plant would be ceasing operations, Domingues said. Article content “We told them that we’re going to do our best and we will have some success on two things: obviously, getting a closure agreement with enhanced severance and some extension of benefits,” he said. Article content Domingues said Unifor told its members it was going to fight hard to get some jobs transferred to the company’s facility in Tillsonburg, roughly 60 kilometres southeast of London. Article content Article content The plant’s closing is representative of an “ongoing decline” in the automotive industry along with changes to Autoneum’s customer production patterns “that really impact (the company’s) Canadian operations,” the company’s communications head, Ulrike Reich, said. Article content Read More Article content The company has “made a decision to consolidate all Canadian operations in Tillsonburg,” Reich said, adding that will enable Autoneum to stay competitive in the medium- and long-term. Article content When asked if U.S. tariffs were playing a role in the decision by Autoneum – which lists 12 U.S. locations on its website – Reich said they weren’t a “determining factor” and the decision was primarily due to reduced production volumes. Article content But Domingues believes otherwise. Article content “I believe that the pressure from the nonsense that’s going on in the United States . . . I believe that they’re just moving on to avoid all of that,” he said. Article content Autoneum’s closing marks another blow to Ontario’s automotive sector. Article content General Motors announced in October it was idling its Cami plant in Ingersoll, putting about 1,200 employees there out of work. The company had retooled the plant to manufacture the BrightDrop, an electric delivery van that sold poorly until its production was cancelled. Article content Just days before the announcement that GM was halting production of the BrightDrop, which resulted in the Cami plant being idled, Stellantis – the automaker behind Chrysler, Dodge and Ram – said it would move production of its Jeep Compass from a Brampton plant to Illinois. Article content bwilliams@postmedia.com