Police in Windsor, Ontario, said there was an explosion at Chrysler’s Windsor Assembly Plant on Thursday evening, and “investigators do believe this was an intentional act.”
Here’s the meat of the police’s statement:
On Thursday, November 4, 2021, at 5:45 pm, officers attended the area and were advised that the facility had been evacuated, no injuries were reported and there was no active fire as a result of the explosion.
It was reported that after the explosion, suspicious items were located at the explosion site and police launched an investigation. The scene was contained and the Explosive Disposal Unit (EDU), K-9 Unit, Forensic Identification Unit and Arson Unit all attended as part of the investigation.
Through investigation, EDU located a suspicious package that detonated. Further examination and testing of the package will occur as part of the investigation.
It should be noted that the suspicious device was located in the area of the facility not generally used for general work and acts as storage facility. The incident occurred on the west side of the facility on the second floor.
Investigators do believe this was an intentional act and are seeking any information that may help identify a suspect or suspects.
Windsor Assembly makes Chrysler Pacifica minivans, and its workers are represented by the Canadian union Unifor. Those workers have not been the happiest lot lately, bristling against vaccine mandates in Canada and also anticipating the shut down of a shift next year at Windsor Assembly that could mean the loss of hundreds of jobs.
Still, there is no evidence so far to suggest that it was a union member behind the explosion, though a union official sounded pretty nervous about that possibility in a Facebook post seen by Automotive News.
Unifor Local 444 President David Cassidy addressed the incident on the local’s official Facebook page.
“There is not much information to come out at this point, but they are doing an investigation, and we are cooperating,” he wrote. ”It is essential to make sure when our members go to work, they feel safe and secure.
“Over the last couple of weeks, there have been some incidents going on in the plant based on anxieties. I know we have had some hard news as of late, but any lashing out in the facilities cannot and will not be accepted and needs to stop.”
He didn’t elaborate.
“All our livelihoods depend on the future of the plant,” Cassidy wrote. “Any antics will negatively affect our reputation and our future, that is a fact.”
Stellantis, parent company of Chrysler, also gave Auto News a statement, which reads in part:
“Out of an abundance of caution, the plant was evacuated.
“We are fully cooperating with authorities. As this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further. The plant has been deemed safe to continue production.
“Our employee health and safety, as well as the safety of the community are our top priority.”
There is a nonzero chance that whatever exploded was accidental, and in the end this will be all to do about nothing. Or it wasn’t, and someone or a group of people somewhere are probably pretty nervous right now.