WINDSOR, Ont. — Chrysler’s Canadian arm is reportedly looking to divest its Chrysler Transport division, clouding the future of about 160 truck-driving jobs in Windsor.

According to a report in the Windsor Star, the carmaker is once again proposing the sale of the transport division and other none-core assets such as its Mopar parts arm.

During the last Canadian contract talks in 2005, the fate of about 300 trucking jobs as at risk until the final hour of bargaining, the Star says.

“It goes back many, many years. There’s always been management people saying, ‘We’re not a trucking company and we should get out of it.’ But we say our members are an efficient operation,” Buzz Hargrove, president of the CAW, told the paper.

Meanwhile in other automotive news, GM confirmed this morning media reports that it would cut an entire shift — about 1,000 jobs — at its pickup truck assembly plant in Oshawa.

GM is slashing operations in response of the slumping U.S. housing market. Most of the trucks built in Oshawa are destined for the U.S. market.
The cuts will be effective in January.

— with files from the Windsor Star