Thunder Bay's Alstom plant hit with layoffs

About 200 people at Thunder Bay's Alstom plant will be laid off in the coming months, the local union president confirmed.

"The layoffs are scheduled to start mid-May," Justin Roberts, president of Unifor Local 1075 said. He said the layoffs will happen intermittently with the last round expected at the end of August.

They coincide with the end of a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) streetcar contract.

"We were expecting this, so it's it's not a surprise to our members," Roberts said. "That line currently employs over 200 of our members."

There are currently about 500 employees in total at the plant, Roberts said.

"I have heard word from management that there are a few smaller contracts that they are seeking," he said. "I don't have anything official on who or what."

However, Roberts said, the union is hopeful the Thunder Bay plant will win the contract to construct 55 new subway cars for Toronto's Line 2.

The $2 billion contract is being split between the City of Toronto, and provincial and federal governments.

Last week, Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria wrote a letter to Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, requesting that the contract be awarded to the Thunder Bay plant, as a sole-source procurement with Alstom. 

Sarkaria's letter stated that the move "would support Ontario workers in Thunder Bay and across our province." 

Previously, when the federal government announced its share of the funding, then-Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland indicated the cars would be built in Thunder Bay.

A TTC spokesperson told CBC News last week that the RFP has closed, and bids are being reviewed.

"Seeing the bipartisan support for our facility is great," Roberts said. "It's definitely what we need, especially to have them work together and get us the project."

"We're just hoping to God that somebody will speed this up and award it to us officially on paper."

Sarkaria's letter came after Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Lise Vaugeois wrote him, requesting that the cars be built in Thunder Bay.

"As far as I know, it comes down to Toronto council and the TTC's directors, which is interesting because it's a three-way funding project," Vaugeois said. "So it's clear that the federal government and the provincial government would like to see the contract go to Alstom."

"There is this thinking that you want the cheapest deal, but the cheapest deal is not necessarily the best deal," she said. "As we know, the Ontario Line is being manufactured in the United States, the $9 billion contract, and all of that money is being spent on workers in the United States. So it's not being recirculated in Ontario."

Vaugeois said her office has asked for an update on the RFP process from the TTC, and "we want to make sure that my statement goes before the board so that they have to actually discuss it."

"We also want to make sure that it's included if (the Line 2 contract) is debated at council at Toronto City Council," Vaugeois said. "So we're doing what we can from from my office to bolster the argument, basically, that if the money stays in Ontario, it is benefiting all of Ontario."