Thunder Bay Bombardier union hoping for more work to avoid layoffs
Letter from federal infrastructure minister to province encourages 'support' for jobs at risk
The president of the union representing more than 1,100 employees at the Bombardier plant in Thunder Bay, Ont., says "it's reassuring" to see that the federal and provincial governments are communicating and trying to "get more work for the plant."
A letter sent on May 24 from the federal minister of infrastructure and communities, Francois-Philippe Champagne, to Jeff Yurek, Ontario's minister of transportation, encouraged the province to "support the hundreds of jobs at risk" at the local plant as "work is tapering off."
"Some fluctuation in employment levels is common to plant-based work where fulfilment requirements can vary over the life of a contract but without further work on the horizon, the viability of the Thunder Bay plant and the associated jobs are permanently at risk," Champagne said in Friday's letter.
He said that the federal government is ready to move forward with new "priority transit projects" in the Greater Toronto Area "as soon as full applications are received."
Premier Doug Ford unveiled a multi-billion dollar transit expansion plan in April, which included a new 15 kilometre line stretching from Ontario Place to the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto.
Dominic Pasqualino, the president of Unifor Local 1075, says officials have talked to both the federal and provincial governments and believe that everyone "is in favour of doing something for the [Thunder Bay] plant."
He told CBC News that having additional work on top of what they are currently working on would help prevent layoffs.
"What we're working on today is the Go Train ... and also the LRV streetcars," Pasqualino said. "The best case scenario would be to get an additional option on both those cars and the other one is to maybe look at another job further down the line, like subway cars."
He added that he hopes to get some "additional bi-level or LRV contracts today" as well as a future contract to avoid significant layoffs.
"If nothing changes, the first quarter of 2020 there's going to be dramatic reduction," he said.
Champagne wrote that the "federal government does not play a role in procurement for the projects," but is urging Yurek to consider the "hundreds of Ontarians" working at the northwestern Ontario plant and to "help mitigate the potential for job losses in Thunder Bay."
"Recognizing that these longer term projects could potentially result in new rolling stock orders in the out years, I encourage you to look into some immediate options available to the Government of Ontario that would protect jobs at the Thunder Bay plant in the short term."
Pasqualino said he's not sure when he'll hear back from senior levels of government but "people from the city ... have been working hard to lobby all forms of government to try and get some work for the plant."
"This [letter] shows me that the different governments are willing to work together and they are aware of our situation at the plant," he said.