Nearly 300 workers at the Alstom plant, which manufactures train carriages and trams, will be laid off from mid-March due to a hiatus in production activities between contracts.
The plant’s 394 employees will by then complete double-decker cars for transit companies on the US West Coast.
But the end of this named contract West Coast Bi-Level will be followed by a hole in orders, which leads Alstom to lay off 296 employees for between four months and a year.
The company explains that production activities for two other contracts announced in 2021, for the Toronto Transit Commission and Metrolinx, will not begin until next August or September.
© Rozenn Nicolle/Radio-Canada
The Thunder Bay plant will build 60 new streetcars for the Toronto Transit Commission which are expected to be delivered beginning in early 2023.
The plant is only expected to return to its current employment level in the spring of 2023.
Alstom ensures that the two contracts for the south of the province will make it possible to employ around 400 people until the end of 2024.
Unifor Local 1075 President Dominic Pasqualino says the layoffs are no surprise.
© CBC/Nicole Ireland
Dominic Pasqualino is president of Unifor Local 1075, which represents workers at Bombardier’s Thunder Bay plant.
He believes, however, that they could have been avoided if the agreement between the federal government and the province for the two contracts had been signed a year earlier.»
More contracts and training support needed, says union
Mr. Pasqualino also wants Canada and Ontario to adopt a local purchasing policy, as is in effect in several places in the world, including the United States.
Not only has it become very difficult to obtain international contracts, according to him, but Canadian factories are also losing Canadian contracts to the profits of factories elsewhere in the world.
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Ottawa police raise their voices in the face of anti-sanitary measures protesters
Ottawa police raise their voices against anti-sanitary measures protesters The Ottawa Police Service is urging protesters who have paralyzed the city center of the federal capital for nearly three weeks to break camp. “You must leave the premises now”, “You must immediately cease your illegal activities”, he insists in “notices” distributed to “participants in the demonstration” on Wednesday morning. The police point out in broad strokes that anyone “blocking the lanes of traffic, or helping others to do so, commits a criminal offence”, can be arrested, be released on bail or not be released and, if she faces charges or convictions, being hit with a travel ban to the United States. The Federal Emergencies Act, cited by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday, and its suite of executive orders, released Tuesday, allow police to limit or even ban “travel to, from or within within a designated area”. The Ottawa Police Service is also dissuading anyone from joining the ranks of protesters opposed to sanitary measures that are making rain or shine in the heart of the capital. “Anyone coming to Ottawa for the purpose of joining the ongoing protest is breaking the law,” Ottawa police said. Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino relies on police forces, given ‘new tools’, under the Emergency Measures Act, to end the occupation of downtown Ottawa. If nothing is done, Mr. Mendicino fears seeing the people of Ottawa[prendre] things in hand” and try to drive the demonstrators themselves out of their living environment.
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Ottawa police raise their voices in the face of anti-sanitary measures protesters
Ottawa police raise their voices against anti-sanitary measures protesters The Ottawa Police Service is urging protesters who have paralyzed the city center of the federal capital for nearly three weeks to break camp. “You must leave the premises now”, “You must immediately cease your illegal activities”, he insists in “notices” distributed to “participants in the demonstration” on Wednesday morning. The police point out in broad strokes that anyone “blocking the lanes of traffic, or helping others to do so, commits a criminal offence”, can be arrested, be released on bail or not be released and, if she faces charges or convictions, being hit with a travel ban to the United States. The Federal Emergencies Act, cited by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday, and its suite of executive orders, released Tuesday, allow police to limit or even ban “travel to, from or within within a designated area”. The Ottawa Police Service is also dissuading anyone from joining the ranks of protesters opposed to sanitary measures that are making rain or shine in the heart of the capital. “Anyone coming to Ottawa for the purpose of joining the ongoing protest is breaking the law,” Ottawa police said. Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino relies on police forces, given ‘new tools’, under the Emergency Measures Act, to end the occupation of downtown Ottawa. If nothing is done, Mr. Mendicino fears seeing the people of Ottawa[prendre] things in hand” and try to drive the demonstrators themselves out of their living environment.
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Vaccinated less hospitalized than non-vaccinated during the Omicron wave
Vaccinated less hospitalized than non-vaccinated during the Omicron wave Since the arrival of Omicron in the country, at the beginning of December, more than 2 million Quebecers have been infected with COVID-19. The actual data shows that the risks of hospitalization for vaccinated individuals remained very low. At the height of this fifth wave, in the first days of January, more than 2,000 people were entering hospitals each week for treatment for COVID-19. This is twice as much as during the worst moments of the previous waves. Comparing hospitalization rates over the duration of outbreaks, the fifth wave compares to the second, the deadliest to date. This second wave (between August 23, 2020 and March 20, 2021) caused 122 hospitalizations per 100,000 infected among women, and 163 hospitalizations per 100,000 infected among men. During the fifth wave, it is rather 137 hospitalizations per 100,000 women and 160 hospitalizations per 100,000 men who were recorded. In other words, the Omicron wave was as serious for our hospitals as the second wave, but for a much shorter period. The mortality rate of this fifth wave is certainly lower than during the other waves. Since the beginning of December 2021, there have been 27 male deaths per 100,000 people infected and 15 female deaths for this same proportion. In comparison, the first wave caused 55 deaths per 100,000 infected among women and 69 deaths per 100,000 infected among men. These death rates had only slightly decreased during the second wave. As with the first waves, people over the age of 70 account for the vast majority of those who died. There are only 10 deaths in Quebec among people under 40 because of Omicron.
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The contract West Coast Bi-Level could have been obtained by the Thunder Bay plant because the transportation companies had not applied for funding from the US federal government.
© CBC / Matt Vis / Radio-Canada
Unifor Local 1075 President Dominic Pasqualino (left) speaks with Alstom Americas Region President Michael Keroullé (center) and Metrolinx Provincial Agency President Phil Verster ( right), when announcing a contract in November 2021.
Dominic Pasqualino also asks for support for the training of the workforce when the time comes for the resumption of activities.
According to the union president, the factory risks having to hire several people with little experience due to an exodus of employees that has already begun due to the current uncertainty.
There are people who have gone to work at the Thunder Bay prison, others in the mines of the region“, he says.
He deplores the loss of expertise caused by these departures.
The government questioned
The situation at Alstom’s Thunder Bay plant rebounded during question period at Queen’s Park on Wednesday morning.
Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has accused Premier Doug Ford of failing to take concrete action to save jobs.
She recalled that the factory once employed more than 1,200 people with good union jobs that supported a family.»
In a document obtained by Radio-Canada, Alstom believes that the current context no longer allows for as many jobs.
Ms Horwath quoted Dominic Pasqualino, who said Alstom management and the union are working together to invest more in the Thunder Bay plant, but it needs more contracts.
The Prime Minister responded by saying that his government is the one who has made the most investments in public transit in the history of the province».
Associate Transportation Minister Stan Cho said investments made to date have saved the factory».
He added that it was the tip of the iceberg “, among other things because Toronto, in strong population growth, will need more trains and streetcars.
We’ll make sure those contracts keep coming in“, he concluded.