Bankruptcy shuts old Lever plant, ends strike
Korex Don Valley, the New Jersey-based company that bought the 120-year-old detergent factory from Unilever in 2002, is about $12 million in debt.
The bankruptcy filing puts more than 100 employees out of work, among them Todd Short, 47, and Dave Dupuis, 50.
On Tuesday, Short and Dupuis were dismantling the picket line in front of the locked factory at the foot of the Don Valley Parkway, near Lakeshore Boulevard East.
Both men were long-time workers at the plant. Now it's "going down the tubes and we get nothing out of it," said Short.
"His dad worked here, my dad worked here, my brother worked here, my uncle worked here — it was like a family affair," Short said. "We were hoping to retire from here, just like our parents."
Industrial landmark
The soap factory has been a Toronto landmark since the 1890s.
Short and his wife worked at the plant for 27 years. When Korex took it over in 2002, it said the salaries were too high for the factory to remain viable.
The workers, members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, agreed to a five-year wage freeze.
But when that contract ended, the workers say Korex demanded more concessions. They refused and the strike was on.
Workers said the contract they were offered slashed benefits, ignored seniority and cut pay rates.
Both the company and the workers blame each other for the plant's demise. The union says it doesn't expect the firm will be able to provide severance or vacation pay owed to the workers.