The Chrysler minivan plant in Windsor, Ont., will return to full production on Dec. 7, according to a union leader.

The Chrysler minivan assembly plant in Windsor, Ont., will return to full production on Dec. 7, returning the plant's 4,600 workers to three eight-hour shifts. (Canadian Press)

Chrysler cut output at the assembly plant by half a shift in June. That meant the 4,600-worker factory operated 20 hours per day rather than 24 in a "kind of a sharing program," according to Rick Laporte, president of Canadian Auto Workers Local 444.

"They may send home the afternoon shift today and the day shift today," Laporte said. "Tomorrow they may send the midnight shift home and one of the other shifts. They've been sharing that downturn over three shifts."

As a result, Chrysler is producing 1,226 Dodge Grand Caravans and Chrysler Town and Country minivans per day. When the third full shift resumes, workers will be able to produce 1,426 vehicles per day.

Suppliers also affected

Chrysler's decision to return to full production will benefit suppliers which have also had to cut shifts to reduce production.

Managers at HPBO, which assembles radiators, headlights and bumpers, had cut its plant's 24-hour workday into two eight-hour shifts and a four-hour shift, with no rotation of shifts. That made it especially hard for the four-hour workers, Laporte said.

"After a couple of months, you have a hard time paying your bills at the end of the day," he said.

Chrysler announced the reduction in early March, shortly after announcing its Canadian sales dropped 27 per cent over February 2008.

In October, however, the Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country had combined Canadian sales of 3,930, up 21 per cent over 2008, capturing nearly three–quarters of the country's minivan segment, according to a company report.