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GM Auction: Memories Sold at Closed Oshawa Truck Assembly Plant
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by Tina Kells | July 16, 2009 at 04:47 pm
520 views | 2 Recommendations | 1 comment
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Everything must go at the GM auction in Oshawa, Ontario. The GM Oshawa Truck Assembly Plant in Canada was closed on May 14, 2009 as part of cost cutting measures at the struggling US automaker. As part of that closure a liquidation of assets was planned. The GM auction on July 16, 2009 was literally selling the farm.
Among the items up for auction at the GM plant include; heavy machinery, drill presses, tools, tool boxes, tool trucks and even the staffroom fridge. The GM auction is not just selling stuff, for the thousands of former plant employees it is selling their memories.
The Oshawa plant was once the center of the local economy and many have suffered for its closure. Some of those who used to work at the Oshawa plant returned to the GM auction hopping to reclaim a part of their personal history.
A banner out front still declares that this is the "Proud Home of the GMC Sierra (and) Chevy Silverado."
The latter was named 2008 "Truck of the Year" by the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada, just one in the string of awards the plant had earned since opening in 1964.
"It was the best plant," says Reynolds. "That plant won more awards than any other plant in North America."
When the closing was announced, those working here were both shocked and hurt.
"I spent every day on the shop floor," says Masson, who joined GM in 1985.
"We had a very good workforce here. There wasn't a lot of turnover. People liked working in truck. It was a well-oiled machine."
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (1)
at 22:31 on July 19th, 2009
Hi. I would like to know if there are any written articles about the history of manufacture at the Oshawa Plant, particlarly during the late 1920's. The product line and number's. Thank you for any assisstance. Peter
ps. I own a 1928 Chev and I'm trying to find out where it was built.