Next year's model: Labour and economic restructuring in Oshawa, Ontario

This thesis will examine the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) in their efforts to influence both the local corporate restructuring of General Motors (GM) operations and the local revitalization of economic activity in Oshawa, Ontario. In the context of a globalized auto industry---where the traditional 'Big Three' U.S. automakers (GM, Ford, and Chrysler) are facing declining profits and market share and increasing foreign competition---significant transformations are occurring in traditional Canadian auto communities such as Oshawa. In this case, General Motors has restructured its operations in Oshawa through a combination of new technological investments and buy-outs to reduce the size of its workforce. The city of Oshawa has responded to this significant threat to its economic future by undertaking a revitalization program that involves fashioning itself as the site of more knowledge-intensive economic activity. A major part of this plan was the establishment of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) in Oshawa in 2002. Utilizing the theoretical foundations of labour geography, which sees workers as active agents in the production of economic space, and sensitive to the geographical contingency of labour regulations and institutions, this thesis aims to understand the role of the CAW in the corporate restructuring of GM Oshawa and the local re-visioning of the city. It will ultimately be argued that current patterns of economic restructuring, and their impacts on localities, pose challenges for both the labour movement and the scholarly field of labour geography.