Ford to cut 300 Canadian jobs

WINDSOR, Ontario, May 23 (UPI) -- The Ford Motor Company's Canadian truck engine plant in Windsor, Ontario, will slice 300 jobs by the third week in July, the company announced.

Buzz Hargrove, president of the Canadian Auto Workers union, told the London (Ontario) Free Press the bad news wasn't a surprise.

"We knew if the sales kept going the way they were -- half-ton truck and SUVs have been dropping like a lead balloon in the U.S. -- that they were going to take production out, and that of course meant our engines as well as trucks," he said.

The plant employs about 1,600 people, the Windsor Star said.

Ford announced Thursday it was cutting North American production by 15 percent this quarter, 15 percent to 20 percent in the third quarter and 2 percent to 8 percent in the fourth quarter.

Ford spokesman Mark Truby told the Star from Dearborn, Mich., layoff notices have been sent to 430 people, but the company doesn't expect to ultimately lay off that many.

Record high gas prices have hit truck and SUV sales hard, with consumers turning to smaller vehicles and passenger cars, the Free Press said.