Two shifts canceled at Michigan GM plant amid trucking protests in Canada

General Motors announced it had to cancel two shifts at its Michigan-based production plant due to the ongoing trucking protests in Ottawa, Canada, Reuters reported. 

GM’s vice president for global purchasing and supply chain, Shilpan Amin, told suppliers Thursday that even with the intermittent stoppages, they are still committed “to keep production running and meet current schedules at all of our manufacturing operations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.”

Amin added the automaker is “encouraging suppliers to evaluate alternative options in order to sustain your operations to meet our production schedules,” according to Reuters. 

This comes as other major automakers Toyota, Ford Motor, and Chrysler parent Stellantis also were forced to cancel or scale back production due to the protests. 

Toyota said the latest shortage affected their production of its popular Rav4 model, Camry, Avalon, Lexus RX and Lexus ES. 

Stellantis added that all of its U.S. plants were up and running on Thursday, saying a number of U.S. and Canadian plants cut second shifts Wednesday night due to parts shortages caused by a bridge closure, Reuters reported. 

“[The] situation at the Ambassador Bridge, combined with an already fragile supply chain, will bring further hardship to people and industries still struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope a resolution can be reached soon so our plants and our employees can return to normal operations,” Stellantis said in a statement. 

This comes as truckers have been holding demonstrations for two weeks in protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates, using their trucks to block traffic at the Ambassador Bridge, which accounts for 25 percent of U.S.-Canadian trade, Reuters noted.