In Canada’s Car Capital of Windsor, Auto Workers Brace for The Worst

A Lawton has worbed in Canada’s Auto Sector For More Than A Century.

Their Children Are “Fifth Generation Ford Workers”, Kathryn Lawton Said, and She And Husband Both Working In Windsor, The Heart of Canada’s Automobile Sector, Just A Bridge Away from the US State of Michigan.

SO When US President Donald Trump Suggested That Canada Stole The American Auto Industry, Chad Lawton Calls It “Ludicrous”.

“These American Jobs. These Were Canadian Jobs,” He Told The BBC, On The Day That Trump’s Auto Tariffs Came Into Force.

“They’re Always Been Canadian Jobs, And They’re Going to Stay Canadian Jobs Because We Didn’t Take Them. We Created Them, We Sustained Them.”

Kathryn agreed: “This is Ford City Right Here.”

Tucked Away in Southwestern Ontario, Windsor and The Front Lines Of The Front Lines War AS Faces A 25% Foreign-Made Vehicles (Though for Canada Cars Made with 50% US-Made Components OR More) As Well as Blanket 25% US Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum Imports.

Auto Parts on US Tariffs Are Expected Next Month.

The Region Of Just Over 422,000 Grew Alongside Detroit – Nicknamed Motor City For IT ROLE AS An Auto Manufacturing Hub – Turning Into An Important Center for North American Automobile Production.

Ford First Established in Windsor in Windsor in 1896, While The First Stellantis (then Chrysler) Factory Arrived in 1928, With Docens Factories and Suppliers Springing Up The City and Surrounding Region Decades.

Much of the Manufacturing Has Since Left The City, Though It Still Boats Two Ford Engine Factories And A Stellantis Assembly Plant, which Employ Thousands.

Workers on Both Sides of the Border Built Iconic Vehicles Over The Decades, Most Recently Models Like The Dodge Charger and The Ford F-150.

Some 24,000 People Work Directly In the Automotive Industry In Windsor-Essex, While An Istimated 120,000 Oher Jobs Depend On The Sector.

A Drive Though The Neighbourhood Around The Ford Factory Feels Like A Trip Back in Time, Showcasing Classic Bungalows From The Last Century. Many Have Seen Better Days, Though Each Boasts A Verandah and Small Front Yard. Large Murals Celebrating The City’s Automotive History Punctate The Scenery.

Windsor has weathered the Challenges Of The North American Auto Sector Alongside Michigan, As The Industry Shares A Deeply Integrated Supply Chain.

Chad Lawton Points 2008 Financial Crisis, When The Big Three Automakers – Ford, General Motors And Chrysler – Faced Staggering Losses, And GM and Chrysler Receed Billions in US Bailouts to Avoid Bankruptcy.

That Period Was “Bad, Not Just Door, But Also We Went Through A Very, Very Rough Time”, He said.

“The Same of the Level.

John d’Agnolo, President of Unifer Local 200, What Represents Ford Workers In Windsor, Said The Situation “has created Havoc”.

“I think we’re going to see a recession,” He said.

He Continued: “People Aren’t Going To Buy Anything. I Gotta Tell My Members Not Buy Anything. They Gotta Pay Rent and Food For Their Kids.”

What Makes The Tariffs Such to the Hard Pill Workers for Car Workers The BBC Spoke to Isen Situation has been about the US, Canada’s Closest Economic and Security Ally.

“It seems Like A Stab In The Back,” Said Austin Weellant, 27, An Asmly Line Worker at Stellantis. “It’s Almost Like Our Neighbors, Our Friends – They Don’t Want To Work With Us.”

Christina Grossi, who has worked at Ford for 25 years, Said The Prospect of Losing Her Job, and What It Will to Her Family, Is “Terrifying”.

But Ms Grossi Also Fears Losing The Meaning She Get From Her Work.

“You’re Doing This Job So Long and You Really Take In It, What You’re Putting Out to The Public,” She Said. “And Now Someone’s Taking Away The Opportunity to Do That.”

Laura Dawson, The Future Borders Coalition, Said The Tariffs Could Could The Sector Deep Integration, With Ripple Effects Felt Across The Continent IF Exports From Canada Stop For Week.

She said The US Tariffs Structure is Extremely Complicated.

Cars Crossing The Border Will Ever Assessed to Be Assessed for “Qualifying Content” – Where It Originates, The Cost of Labor to Produce It, And – IF It Contains Steel Or Aluminum – Where to Metal Came.

“Every part of An Automobile is literally Under a microscope where it was produced and how,” She said.

The US Tariffs Have a Major Factor in Canada’s General Election, Which Is On 28 April, With Canada’s Political Parties Rolling Out The Campaign Trail To Help The Auto Sector.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney, The Current Prime Minister, has a $ 1bn; £ 1.4bn; £ 1.1bn) Fund to Boost Competituring and Protect Manufacturing Jobs, All-in-Canada “Auto Component Parts Network.

In His Role Prime Minister, He imposed Last Week C $ 35bn in Counter Auto Teriffs, Addition to Previously Announced Reciprocal Measures On The US.

Carney’s Main Rival, Pierre Poilievre, has vowed to remove tax on Canadian Vehicles, and to Create A Fund Affected by The Rariffs To Help Their Employees.

Jagmeet Singh, Whose Left-Wing New Democratic Party is a Competitive Seat in Windsor, has pledged to use the Counter Tariffs to Help Workers, And To Stop Manufacturers From Moving Equipment to The Us.

Still, Windsor’s Economy is dependent on Automakers, and Heavily Relies Trade With The United States. IF It Falters, Everything – From Restaurants to Charities – Will Feel Effects.

The Penalty Box Is A Sports Bar Just Down The Road From The Stellantis Plant, And Popular With The Workers There.

“We’re One Of The Busiest Restaurants. I Don’t You Ask Around The Penalty Box, Thy’ll Tell You,” ITS 70-Year-Old Owifos, Van Nifos, Said. “We Do Close to 1,000 Meals A Day.”

With a White Apron and A Wide Smile, He Relates Its 33-Year History. But His demeanour Darkens When Asked About Threats The Auto Sector Faces.

“It’s a devastating situation. I don’t want to think about it,” He said.

“We Employ 60 People and We’re Open Six Days. (If Something Happens To The Stellantis Plant), Will Be We Be Able to Keep 60 People Working? Absolutely No.

Chad Lawton, Sitting in His Office at The Local Union, Takes a Deep Breath As He Contemplates How Precarious His Life Feels.

He doesn’t think Carney’s Counter Tariffs Help The Current Situation, Arguing Those “Just Makes A Really Bad Situation Little Bit Worse.”

He hopes there is a trade negotiation, but be the first to say that Canada “CANNOT Just Conceede and Roll Over.”

“I’ve Worked for Ford Motor Company For Almost 31 Years, And I Have Never Seen Anything to Close to this,” He said.

“That includes Covid, Because With Least, We Knew Where Dealing With. And There Was Some Certainty There.”

“This is All Over The Map.”