Oshawa GM workers weigh-in on strike in the U.S.

As thousands of auto workers walk out of the job in the United States — how it may impact the industry in Canada is still up in the air.

The market in the U.S. is closely integrated with assembly plants like Oshawa’s. The Durham region facility relies on parts from the U.S. to do its job.

Although it’s not clear how it will affect them, workers like David Lacroix think it’s a good thing.

“I hope they stick to their guns and get exactly what they want,” says Lacroix.

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“That was their bargaining chip,” says another employee. “They don’t want to hold us back, so it’s either a short strike or a long strike.”

The scenario is all too familiar for GM employees in Oshawa, where hundreds of workers will be out of a job in the next couple of months.

Lacroix says they don’t blame employees for walking out — as they could suffer the same fate.

“We’re all one union and sticking together.”

Overnight Sunday, more than 49,000 workers in the U.S. walked off the job after talks broke down in contract negotiations, bringing more than 50 factories and warehouses to a standstill. It was a drastic move by workers who are also facing the closure of four plants in the U.S.

Avery Shenfeld, chief economist of CIBC markets, says how Canada is impacted depends on the length of the strike.

“Typically, you would make up for lost time by having additional shifts and then producing as many cars as you would otherwise,” Shenfeld said.

Because of the close relationship between the U.S. and Canada, the effects could be felt soon if the strike drags on.

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“Historically, because of just-in-time inventory processes that are now quite common, it’s only a matter of days before they’re missing a supply of a critical part here or there.”

On Saturday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said his party would help invigorate the auto industry with more funding and a new “made in Canada” procurement rule.

“That would mean investments in cities like Oshawa,” says Singh. “We also want to make sure when we’re buying with our public dollars, we make an incentive to buy made in Canada cars.”

A strategy that Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter says could work — but more needs to be done.

“I like any idea to be able to come to the table and help and invest in the automotive industry,” says Carter. “I’d rather see the dollars go into where we can compete in what kind of vehicles we could be producing.”

WATCH: Oshawa GM plant to remain open, but smaller

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Earlier this year, GM announced it will maintain 300 jobs to transition the facility from making cars to part stamping and autonomous vehicle testing. The Oshawa plant is still running but is set to close its doors later this year — leaving 2,300 unionized workers out of a job.

With files from Maham Abedi