GM cutting 1,400 jobs in Canada in 2010

WINDSOR, Ontario, May 12 (UPI) -- General Motors of Canada President Arturo Elias announced Monday a transmission plant closure in the Ontario city of Windsor will cut 1,400 jobs in 2010.

In a statement, Elias said after contract talks with the Canadian Auto Workers union, there were "no available replacement products in the relevant time frame for this location," the Globe and Mail reported.

Within the last two weeks, GM Canada also announced the closing of a shift and lay-off of 900 workers at its pickup truck plant in Oshawa, Ontario, in September.

Union president Buzz Hargrove told reporters the union couldn't make the closure a strike issue because the CAW also couldn't identify anything else the 63-year-old plant could manufacture, The Toronto Star reported.

The Windsor plant assembles four-speed transmissions for Chevrolet Malibu and Saturn Vue and Aura vehicles, but the GM statement said the market is shifting to more fuel-efficient six-speed transmissions. The Star said.