Navistar to Lay Off 200 at Ontario Truck Plant

Navistar International Corp. plans to lay off another 200 workers at its truck plant in Ontario, the Toronto Star newspaper reported Wednesday.

The move prompted workers’ concerns the plant could close altogether, the paper said, but a company spokesman told Transport Topics the facility would still produce at least 35 trucks a day, as required under its contract with the Canadian Auto Workers union.

“These new layoffs will not take place until March 2,” Navistar’s Roy Wiley told TT. “Basically, we’re doing it because of slow demand.”

In November, Navistar had given layoff notices to almost 500 workers at the Chatham, Ontario, plant, which in 2006 had produced about 200 Class 8 trucks a day.

Navistar makes the International truck brand.