New Fifth Wheel Manufacturer Means Jobs for Former Fleetwooders

The demise of Fleetwood Manufacturing's Canadian production facility in Lindsay, Ontario spelled bad news for hundreds of line workers. But the breach has been filled, a new upstart RV builder called Great Lakes Recreational Products says they'll reopen the former Fleetwood plant, hire back 300 of the former employees, and start churning out a new line of fifth wheels and travel trailers as early as next month.

The company's new president, Paul Perras told a group of media, "As Great Lakes RV we are moving forward as an all-Canadian company that promotes manufacturing and tourism not only in our region but all across Canada. We are very excited to start producing our product and to begin working with dealers all across Canada and the U.S."

Rather than having company employees punch a time clock, line workers will become salaried workers, and will have options at buying into the company. Union officials who represent the returning employees are excited with the prospects. Time will tell how this revised view of RV workers will turn out in terms of manufacturing quality. Plenty of RVers will tell you that an RV coming off the line without a full compliment of "bugs" requiring repeated trips back to the dealer for fixes would be a blessing.

We'll keep an eye on the new company and let readers know what new rigs will be available. Meantime for more information check out a "printer" version of the story on the Lindsay Post.