Layoffs on horizon at National Steel Car? March 15, 2010 Dana Brown The Hamilton Spectator (Mar 15, 2010)
The head of the union at National Steel Car believes 1,100 recalled workers will be laid of at the end of May if the company cannot secure any new orders.
Steve Weller, president of United Steelworkers Local Union 7135, said he has been told by National that layoffs are on the way if there is no new business. Waller is meeting with human resources today.
"It just seems like the manufacturing jobs, nobody cares about," he said. "And it's going to hurt the community again."
A representative from National Steel Car could not be reached for comment.
The concern comes after a tough year for National employees. From April to June last year, workers at the Kenilworth Avenue North facility were on strike. They were then laid off for a temporary shutdown that began at the end of the summer.
About 1,200 hourly workers were affected. Weller said 900 people have been called back to work and another 200 are expected in the next two weeks.
But a recent order of 750 iron ore cars is halfway through, he said, and the company has told them no more orders will mean no more work.
National recalled about 600 employees to help fill the iron ore contract and another 500 to fill a Canadian National Railway order. The two contracts were likely to keep the facility running until May, a union official said earlier this year.
"They're trying to get work," Weller said. "I'm not against them on that because they do try. They're working on getting more orders because they want to run just as much as we want to work."
But with such a short stint back at work, the union president said 65 to 70 per cent of his members will not be eligible for employment insurance this time around. They will not have worked the requisite hours. He suggested they will have to turn to Ontario Works.
Weller wants the federal government to act, perhaps getting them a couple of orders to keep going.
