A company spokesperson told Eyewitness News that the employees were not being laid off. They're just being given temporary time off that could last several weeks.
It's also offering voluntary severance packages to some workers.
AW says the decision to idle workers is directly related to the economic downturn, and it will continue to evaluate the situation if the economy worsens.
"We don't know precisely what the production needs will be in coming months for transmissions and components we manufacture here. We will continue to evaluate developments in the automotive marketplace as well as our anticipated production needs. No specific timetables to complete this evaluation have been set at this time," said the company in a statement sent out to the media.
