Reports indicate two-thirds of St. Marys cement workers could be temporarily laid off by Christmas
Oct 21, 2008 - 04:13 PM
By Jennifer Stone
BOWMANVILLE -- This week’s announcement of large-scale, temporary layoffs at Bowmanville’s St. Marys Cement plant are a “little offensive,” given the company gave the union representing the workers no indication it would happen when the two sides met only two weeks ago, says the president of the local union.
More than half of the 110 workers, represented by CAW Local 222, will face temporary layoff beginning Dec. 1, said Steve Gallagher, the company’s vice-president of human resources.
The December layoff runs into a January planned shutdown, something which is done annually. However, the shutdown usually occurs a little later in the year.
About 60 workers will be laid off, with the remainder staying on “to do some prep work for the shutdown,” Mr. Gallagher said.
“Once we start production back up, which will likely be March, we will be calling most, if not all, of the remaining people back again.”
It’s the first time since 1982 the plant has seen layoffs, Mr. Gallagher said.
“This is the first lay-off we’ve experienced at this facility in 27 years, so it comes as quite a shock,” said Chris Buckley, president of CAW Local 222.
The union represents an array of workers at the plant, including labourers, heavy equipment operators and skilled trades workers.
The layoffs are even more shocking given the CAW’s recent dealings with the plant.
“My last meeting with the company was Oct. 7,” Mr. Buckley said. “They did tell us the market was starting to get soft but gave us no indication there were going to be layoffs, which I find a little offensive.”
Mr. Buckley said he’s been told the layoffs are a result of a “softening economy,” particularly in the United States, where much of St. Marys’ Bowmanville-produced clinker -- which is often ground with gypsum and added to liquid to make cement -- is shipped.
The plant has been seriously impacted by the slumping economy. Clinker sales have dropped from 1.8 tonnes in 2006 to 1.2 million tonnes in 2008 and cement has dropped from 1.2 million tonnes to 830,000 tonnes, Mr. Gallagher said.
Hopes have been high in the community that St. Marys could benefit when Ontario goes ahead with construction of new nuclear reactors at neighbouring Darlington. Construction of a nuclear plant requires copious amounts of cement.
But the new build “is not coming soon enough to stop these layoffs,” Mr. Buckley said.
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