THUNDER BAY — Much better job security for existing workers and the opportunity to attract many more employees would be two major benefits to the local Alstom plant, should the company win a $2.2 billion Toronto Transit Commission subway contract, says the president of the facility's union local.
The TTC currently has a request for proposals open for a manufacturer to build 55 new trains for its Line 2, which runs between Etobicoke and Scarborough. The window for companies to bid on the contact closes at 4 p.m. on January 28. The transit operator has received $758 million each from the provincial and federal governments, as well as the City of Toronto, to fund the project.
“So, getting that subway contract, especially right now would mean the world for a lot of our workers," Justin Roberts, the president of Unifor 1075 said in an interview on Friday. “A new-build train of that size and a contract of that size, it's the type of job security where our members can feel comfortable going out and getting a mortgage, they can go out and buy the new vehicle that they need.”
“So that's the type of security that it really gives to our members with a contract like that. They can really start planning for their family and plan ahead financially for all kinds of things with a commitment like that.”
Alstom is “highly interested in that opportunity,” Andrée-Lyne Hallé, a director of public affairs for the company, said in an email to Newswatch. “We are very proud to have provided high-quality and reliable subway cars to Torontonians, built right here in Thunder Bay, for decades and we are ready to do so again.”
The company said, as the bidding process is ongoing, that it can't respond to questions about whether the company has formally submitted a bid or how many new jobs it could mean for the Thunder Bay facility, should Alstom get the contract.
And while the TTC will ultimately choose the winning bid, Ontario’s transportation minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said, while in Thunder Bay, that the provincial government wants to see that work done in Ontario.
“Whether it be manufacturing, whether it be the maintenance of it, whether it be refurbishment … we made it very clear that we want those contracts to go to jobs that support good paying jobs, especially in facilities like this in Thunder Bay,” Sarkaria said while in the city on January 15 to announce a $500 million contract for the Alstom plant to upgrade 181 additional GO Transit rail cars.
“That that should definitely and absolutely be a criteria as those RFPs are evaluated by the TTC.”
Then-Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland made similar remarks when Ottawa committed its share of funding to the TTC’s Line 2 project in November 2024.
The local facility is doing, and has done, other work for the TTC under its current and previous corporate ownership. That includes currently constructing an order of 60 LRV streetcars, Roberts said, adding that another significant past build project was the Toronto Rocket subway trains.
For Roberts, who’s been at the Thunder Bay plant for 17 years, and his colleagues, it’s imperative that varied types of work, including large-order build contracts, continue to come in.
“There's major layoffs in between some contracts and it is frustrating for workers because it's really hard to plan for your personal life financially long term when you can't have a long-term commitment to work.”
