THUNDER BAY – The Bombardier Labour Action Centre, which was created in October of 2019, to support the 550 workers from the local transportation manufacturing facility who were the first group to be laid off as contracts ended is set to close on March 22.
The original mandate of the centre was to support the adjustment process for workers, employers, and community partners affected by economic and labour market change and to help employees and their families being laid-off deal with the effects of losing their jobs, help them review their options and plan their next steps.
“It’s been extremely important for a number of the workers who were laid off. That was their first-time job, a permanent job, in any field. And while they were well qualified for what they were doing at the transportation plant, they needed to get opportunities for re-training,” said Adjustment Committee Chair Iain Angus.
The Bombardier Labour Action Centre did request that the ministry enable them to operate until October 2022, but they were only approved for about half that time.
“In August of 2021, in anticipation of this new round of layoffs and because at that time approximately 27 per cent of the first group remained unemployed or underemployed, the Adjustment Committee applied to the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development for an extension that would enable the Centre to operate until this coming October. Instead, the Ministry only approved the continuation of the operation until March 22, 2022, closing just before the new layoffs begin” said Angus.
“Because the new layoffs are a reality, we have written to Minister McNaughton requesting that the agreement be amended to allow us to serve the 296 workers and their families who are being laid off this spring. It is only fair and just that these workers receive the same supports as their colleagues.”
The letter Angus wrote to Hon. Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, urges the ministry to approve the centre’s original request.
“Minister, given the magnitude of this new round of layoffs and the continued high level of unemployment in the Thunder Bay area, it is appropriate that these new laid-off workers and their families receive the same supports as their former colleagues received through the Bombardier Action Centre. The Centre has played a significant role in supporting the workers and their families since it opened,” Angus said in the letter.
“On behalf of the Bombardier Labour Adjustment Committee and the soon to be laid-off workers and their families I urgently ask that our original request for an extension to October 2022 be approved.”
Angus estimates keeping the centre open until October would cost around $160,000 and currently, the last day of the Centre’s operation will be March 22, 2022.
