Every stone is being turned over to avoid job losses at Thunder Bay’s Bombardier plant.
Due to a shortage of parts, union head Dominic Pasqualino tells us to avoid laying off about 200 people, the plant is doing a workshare agreement, in which some will work Monday to Thursday.
“Some will be required to work on Friday, so life will be normal for them. For the ones affected by the parts shortages, they will be on Employment Insurance on the Friday,” says Pasqualino.
The union leader adds the plant had a vote. “We had a vote for the membership, and it was accepted by 82.3-percent. Everybody looked at it for the benefit of everyone, I think, and four days a week isn’t the worst thing in the world.”
Pasqualino says they are working on 36 cars for the Ontario government, a contract for another 39 is set to start for the west coast. But parts for that contract have been delayed, resulting in the workshare. He adds what they really need is work for hundreds of cars, which could happen if Premier Doug Ford comes through with his plan for subways in Toronto.
