Canadian Mayor Seeks Injunction as Trucker Protest Limits Ford, GM Auto Production

The announcement came as Detroit-based auto makers scaled back production in the U.S. and Canada and temporarily sent employees home because of parts shortages caused by protests against Covid-19 vaccine mandates.

Police in Windsor estimated that somewhere between 50 and 75 vehicles have disrupted commercial-truck traffic at the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit with Windsor. The protest originated in the Canadian capital of Ottawa and expanded this week to the border city.

The bridge closure led Ford Motor Co. to cut output at an engine plant in Windsor, Ontario, and at an SUV factory in Oakville, Ontario, just west of Toronto, a company spokesman said.

“We hope this situation is resolved quickly because it could have widespread impact on all auto makers in the U.S. and Canada,” the spokesman said.

Commercial vehicles are being rerouted north to the Blue Water Bridge, which crosses the St. Clair River and connects Port Huron, Mich., with Sarnia, Ontario, roughly 66 miles north of the Detroit-Windsor crossing. Trucks on Wednesday were backed up more than 17 miles on Michigan highways leading to that bridge, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Transportation Department said, adding that it was taking truckers up to five hours to cross the Blue Water Bridge.

Stellantis NV, which makes Ram and Jeep vehicles, said all of its North American plants were running normally as of Thursday morning. The company said a number of U.S. and Canadian plants cut short second shifts Wednesday night due to parts shortages caused by the partial closure of the Detroit-Windsor bridge.

General Motors Co. on Thursday canceled the morning work shift at an assembly plant in Lansing, Mich., because of a parts shortage stemming from the disruption on the bridge, a spokesman said. GM also called off an evening work shift Wednesday at the same plant, which makes Chevrolet and Buick sport-utility vehicles.

The protesters, with the help of 500 heavy-duty trucks and other vehicles that are clogging traffic in Ottawa and Windsor, are demanding that governments in Canada at all levels eliminate Covid-19 vaccine mandates and social restrictions that require people to be fully vaccinated against the virus to enter restaurants, gyms and movie theaters. The number of protesters between the two cities has ranged from a few hundred during the week to several thousand last weekend.

The scale-back in vehicle assembly and auto-parts production is the first sign of economic fallout from the protests, originally organized by truckers and their supporters. The protests have disrupted traffic and daily life in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, and are now at the 1.6-mile Ambassador Bridge.

“These interruptions are currently resulting in short-term layoffs,” said Shane Wark, a senior official at Unifor, the union that represents workers at auto-assembly plants. “The situation is fluid, and changing by the hour.”

Brian Kingston, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, said the auto makers are working with alternative shipping companies to mitigate further disruptions.

“If this is allowed to carry on, the problem will only become more acute,” he said.

A spokesman for Toyota Motor Corp. said the Japanese auto maker expects some disruption at its Canadian operation between now and this weekend because of a variety of supply-chain constraints—among them disruptions at the Detroit-Windsor bridge. “We’ll continue to make adjustments to our production plans,” the spokesman said.

Limited traffic from Canada can enter the U.S. via the Ambassador Bridge, but commercial trucks and other vehicles originating in the U.S. can’t enter Canada, as a group of 100 or so protesters along with six dozen vehicles, ranging from heavy-duty trucks to light-duty vehicles, have congregated on a main north-south Windsor road that connects the city to the bridge.

The bridge, one of the busiest border crossings in North America, accommodates roughly 30% of annual two-way U.S.-Canada trade, which recent U.S. data pegs at over $600 billion. Two-way U.S.-Canada trade of over $28 billion in motor vehicles and auto parts was transported last year through the Ambassador Bridge, according to Statistics Canada.

Mr. Dilkens, the Windsor mayor, said on Wednesday that the main focus of Windsor police is to de-escalate tension and maintain security. He said the city has formally requested more law-enforcement personnel and equipment from the federal government and provincial governments.

A spokesman for Canada’s public-safety minister, who would oversee any additional support, didn’t return a message Thursday seeking comment. Earlier this week, Canadian officials said they were prepared to help Windsor with more law-enforcement resources.

Both the White House and Bank of Canada Gov. Tiff Macklem expressed concern this week about the impact of prolonged disruption at the Ambassador Bridge. Business groups also fret that the protesters, among them truckers with heavy-duty rigs, could target other key trade corridors. Besides the city of Ottawa and the Ambassador Bridge, another Canadian trucker-led protest disrupted cross-border traffic at a point of entry connecting Montana with the oil-producing province of Alberta.

Todd Spencer, president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, a Grain Valley, Mo.-based group representing small-trucking companies and independent truckers, said the protests in Canada are creating “an impediment to commerce that affects real people on a grand scale. The point that was trying to be made in Canada has already been made.”

Mr. Spencer added, “The border stuff, that can’t continue.”

—Mike Colias and Paul Page contributed to this article.

Write to Paul Vieira at [email protected] and Jacquie McNish at [email protected]