Bombardier workers' union lobbying for funding for large TTC contract

The head of the union local representing Thunder Bay, Ont., Bombardier workers says the union is lobbying the federal and provincial governments to free up funds for a massive contract that could put laid-off workers back to work if Bombardier secures the deal.

And Dominic Pasqualino is calling on stakeholders such as the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce to join the effort. 

The city of Toronto recently approved a budget that includes funding for 60 new streetcars and 80 new subway trains, each of which is typically comprised of six cars.

Now it just needs contributions from the federal government and the province.  

"There's a lot of urgency because both the federal and provincial government are doing the budgets right now," Pasqualino explained. "We certainly want to have the funding in this budget and not in the budget next year."

"We're working here with a tight deadline with the plant because, if we wait until next year, our work in this plant will be completed by this time next year.  There won't be any work left, so we'll be looking at another layoff."

Alstom CEO says purchase of Bombardier Transportation 'does not at all pose a threat to employment'

Pasqualino met with Toronto mayor John Tory last week to discuss the city's transportation needs. 

He plans to start reaching out this week to local stakeholders, he said. 

Bombardier's chief operating officer, David Van der Wee, meanwhile, visited the Thunder Bay plant last week and told workers that the company will continue to compete aggressively for contracts until a pending sale of its rail division to the French giant Alstom is completed.

The sale needs to be approved by European regulators and could take 12 to 18 months to complete, Pasqualino said. 

The sale adds to the sense of urgency to fill the plant with work, he added.

"If we were to wait for the year [or] year and a half and not get any orders between now and then, Alstom would essentially be taking over an empty plant, and then we're certainly at more risk of them saying, 'Well there's no work there. Why should we bother going ahead and keeping it open?'"

In comments made to the French media at the time of the sale, Alstom CEO d'Henri Poupart-Lafarge said that there would be no threat to employment as a result of the Bombardier acquisition.

"Rail transport is seeing strong growth and needs talent, needs energy, and the employees of Bombardier Transportation and the employees of Alstom," he told Europe 1's Matthieu Belliard in French. "This operation does not at all pose a threat to employment in France or elsewhere."