Cambridge's Roadtrek issues temporary layoff notices in light of U.S. tariffs: union

U.S. tariffs are being blamed for temporary layoff notices at a Cambridge, Ont., company that manufactures camper vans and class B RV motor homes.

Roadtrek employs 80 people represented by Unifor Local 1106. 

Union local president Ramon Souto told CBC K-W this is the first temporary layoff the company has experienced.

"Our members at Roadtrek received a temporary layoff notice on Friday that they would be laid off the entire plant for this week," Souto said.

"The expectation is that they'll be back at work on April 14, but nothing's confirmed yet."

In a statement emailed to CBC K-W, Roadtrek said it was taking a proactive step to temporarily pause production, because the "global tariff changes are impacting key raw materials, components and finished goods."

"This brief pause will allow us to carefully evaluate the impact on our operations, products, partners, and customers," the statement said.

"During this time, our focus is on swiftly reassessing the market landscape and implementing smart, strategic actions that will position both Roadtrek Inc. and our employees for long-term strength and continued excellence. We remain fully committed to our mission of delivering innovative, high-quality products and outstanding support to our customers and community."

Guelph's Linamar awaits details of new tariffs May 3

A new set of U.S. tariffs are scheduled to kick in on May 3 and they're expected to impact Guelph's Linamar Corporation, which employs 34,000 people around the world.

Linamar, one of Canada's largest companies, supplies auto parts to car plants right across the continent. 

The company is waiting for clarification and on what these new tariffs will mean. The U.S. administration has said parts that comply with CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement) "will remain tariff-free until the secretary of commerce, in consultation with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), establishing a process to apply tariffs to their non-U.S. content."

Jim Jarrell, Linamar's president and CEO, told CBC Radio's Metro Morning he considers the tariff issue unhealthy for business, and they're still looking for more clarity on what will happen on May 3 and the affect the tariffs will have on the auto and auto parts that have been working at a global level. 

"It's like an omelette. How do you uncook an omelette?" Jarrell said. "You have all these ingredients from Mexico, and we have it from Canada and the U.S, and to uncook this, it's really difficult and it's not pragmatic on the auto parts side at all." 

Possible business opportunities?

Jarrell said if the tariffs persist, the company will "have to right-size and do what we need to do."

He said there may be an opportunity in all the negative news if the tariffs on auto parts are not introduced.

"All of the customers are going to be saying, 'OK, you know, we have tariffs in China, we have tariffs in India, we have tariffs out of Europe,'" Jarrell said.

"OK, Maybe if USMCA compliance is critical, we can now offer that to our customers, to have a USMCA compliance which is tariff exempt and start to look to bring parts into Canada, North America, U.S. and Mexico."

Protecting jobs

Souto said the union will continue fighting for Roadtrek workers to keep their jobs.

"Our union will be fighting for our members and we'll do everything in our power, whatever it takes to protect these jobs and the industry moving forward," Souto said.

"President [Donald] Trump's causing economic chaos right now, trying to divert investments away from Canada, steal our jobs. So it's led to a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the members. Nobody knows what's going to happen day to day."