Arvida workers agree to shutdown

Published by MAC on 2004-02-16

Arvida workers agree to shutdown

16th February 2004

Canadian Broadcast Corporation

Quebec City - A labour dispute has fizzled out at the Alcan factory in Arvida after thousands of unionized workers decided to cooperate with a company plan to shut down the aluminum smelter this spring.Alcan announced last month that it would close the plant 10 years earlier than the expected closing date of 2015, saying that part of the plant is outdated and pollutes the air.

But unionized aluminum workers refused to stop assembly lines inside the smelter, arguing that 550 jobs were on the line because of the closure.

This weekend, the provincial labour board issued a binding order forcing employees to comply with the shutdown.

Alcan spokesperson Joseph Singerman said that workers are now cooperating, and the closure is going ahead as scheduled.

"We're happy that the employees are working as usual and also with us," said Singerman. "We want to work with the employees to look to the future to find other ways of attracting business and job creation opportunities to the area."

Singerman said there won't be any layoffs because the company will ask a number of people to retire early.

He said that Alcan will transfer the rest of the jobs to its other factories.

However, union and local politicians are still worried there won't be enough jobs left in the Saguenay area.

Union members will decide what to do next at meetings this week.

 

Copyright © 2004 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved