THUNDER BAY - Several hundred employees at the Thunder Bay Bombardier plant are working one less day a week in an effort to minimize permanent layoffs as work continues to wind down.
Unifor, Bombardier, and Service Canada entered an agreement for a work share, which was accepted by more than 90 per cent of Unifor members during a vote held at the end of April.
The work share means chosen workers work Monday to Thursday with Friday off to collect employment insurance for the missed time.
“This is to minimize the permanent layoffs that will be upcoming if there is no more work,” said Dominic Pasqualino, president of Unifor Local 1075. “Hopefully there will be some work issued by the government soon so we can minimize the permanent layoffs and regain the people’s work.”
The work share started last Friday and there are 408 members signed up with an additional 247 to be signed up by the end of June. Bombardier employs more than 1,100 workers and is the largest private-sector employer in the city.
Two major contracts with Metrolinx and the Toronto Transit Commission are winding down at the local plant, with work expected to be complete by the end of 2019.
“I think the workers realize there is a serious layoff coming,” Pasqualino said. “This helps them stretch that out a bit. It’s a lot better having 4/5 of your wages rather than having total layoffs, a loss of benefits, and all the things that go with a layoff.”
Pasqualino added if the work share was not available, not only would workers be laid off, but production at the plant would be disrupted.
“The company wouldn’t have the option of picking some people over another,” he said. “It would be the lowest seniority first and there are some people in very important jobs with lower seniority right now. So this way it gives the company the option of picking the people where they need to go, where the labour needs to slow down.”
Workers and union officials remain hopeful that additional contracts will come to the plant and there won’t be any need for layoffs.
Late last month, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Francois-Philippe Champagne, wrote to the provincial Minister of Transportation, Jeff Yurek, encouraging him to ensure both governments are working together to protect jobs in Thunder Bay.
“Hopefully the federal and provincial government are working together to get us a maximum amount of work here as soon as possible,” Pasqualino said.
“We all would like to be at work, we would like to be going full-tilt. That’s where we get our maximum production. This is awkward having a slowdown. We are all working together, the union, the company, Service Canada to get a good agreement to mitigate the lack of work right now.”
