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5 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,A pril 15,2021 insidehalton.com Over 120,000 satisfied custOmers 9 Locations to serve you better Heating & Cooling www.aireonewest.ca Beat the Price increase & shortageBeat the Price increase & shortage *CALL FOR DETAILS *CALL FOR DETAILS *CALL FOR DETAILS Starting from Starting from Starting from $2,299$2,299* $2,799$2,799* $4,999$4,999 * 10 YEAR FACTORY WARRANTY 10 YEAR FACTORY WARRANTY high efficiency fURnAce AnD cenTRAL AiR $29 /MONTH OAC* $59 /MONTH OAC* OAKVILLE 905-849-4998 1-888-827-2665 10 YEAR FACTORY WARRANTY $700 Off high efficiency cenTRAL AiR UPgRADe yOUR fURnAce fOR OnLy $39 /MONTH OAC* Founded in 1991 Peter Watson MBA, CFP®, R.F.P., CIM®, FCSI Jennifer Watson MBA, CFP®, CIM® Accepting new clients. Please visit www.watsoninvestments.com to book a free consultation. Offering safe virtual meetings and e-signatures for new client onboarding. "Our clients enjoy talking about their retirement dreams and we enjoy helping them get there." Peter & Jennifer info@watsoninvestments.com (905) 842 -2100 The Oakville Ford Assembly Plant has cease production for three weeks (starting April 12). Kelli Felker, manager of man- ufacturing and labor communi- cations for Ford motor company, said the Oakville plant is among six North American Ford facili- ties impacted as a result of the global semiconductor microchip shortage. Oakville appears to be among the hardest hit. Ford's Dearborn Truck Plant and Louisville Assembly Plant will only be shutting down for two weeks, although Dearborn will experience shift cancellations that will persist into late June. The Kansas City Assembly Plant will cease truck production for one week but will experience shift cancellations until mid- June. Ford's Chicago and Ohio as- sembly plants will experience shift cancellations, but no com- plete production shutdowns. Modern vehicles are increas- ingly dependent on semiconduc- tor microchips, which control air bags, dashboard displays, cell phone integration and more. The coronavirus has been blamed for creating a high de- mand for these microchips with people wanting more semicon- ductor-equipped electronic de- vices so they can work and play from home during their confine- ment. This was not the first time this year that the Oakville Ford Plant has had to cease production. In posts on its website, Unifor Local 707, the union that repre- sents the Oakville Assembly Plant workers, noted there was a two-week suspension of produc- tion, which began on Feb. 22. Local president Mark Sciber- ras blamed that shutdown on un- usual and extreme weather con- ditions in the southern United States that resulted in unexpect- ed part shortages at the Oakville Assembly Plant. "We've been laid off a lot this year. Already 2021 has been a rough year which follows 2020 be- ing a rough year," said Sciberras when reached for comment. "This year we were laid off Jan. 4 to Jan. 24, so that was a three-week period there. We were laid off for one week from Feb. 1 to Feb. 7 and then we were laid off again Feb. 22 through to March 7...It's like Murphy's law right now. If it can go wrong it will." The local president is hoping for a reprieve from the present chaos noting it is difficult to pre- dict what is going to happen in the near future. "We could shut down because of COVID, we could be shut down because of parts issues or for in- clement weather," said Sciberras. "I hate to say it, but sometimes we are at the mercy of things that are beyond our control or even the company's for that matter. I wish I could say there is some- thing I would like to see them do that would make all this go away, but that is not reality." The Oakville plant, which em- ploys 3,600 people, was also shut- down for months in 2020 as a re- sult of the COVID-19 pandemic. The facility is scheduled to be retooled in 2024 so it can begin producing electric vehicles. FORD PLANT CEASES PRODUCTION FOR THREE WEEKS A global semiconductor microchip shortage has forced the shutdown of the local Ford plant. Graham Paine/Metroland DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com NEWS STOPPAGE RELATED TO GLOBAL SEMICONDUCTOR MICROCHIP SHORTAGE