Posted: Monday, 1 June 2009

We’ve got a huge social problem on the horizon

Welland is a city of about 50,000 located in the Niagara Peninsula in Southern Ontario. The community has a strong labour tradition, and its mainly unionized plants have provided decent work.

Even after many plant closures, Welland still had about 5,000 manufacturing jobs in 2001. Since late 2008, hundreds of industrial workers have been laid off.

The John Deere plant will close by the end of 2009 with a loss of 800 jobs. Henniges Automotive has permanently laid off 700 workers. Lakeside Steel and other smaller operations are down to very few workers.

CAW Local 523 President and City Councillor Rick Alakas is alarmed. “For anybody to sit here now and say that we’re in a transition and we’re going to turn a corner and be just fine, I think they’re fooling themselves... (W)e’ve got a huge social problem growing on the horizon in Welland.”/p>

You could always get a job

Former Welland Mayor and current Regional Councillor Cindy Forster says that when she grew up “you could go from factory to factory ... you could always get a job ... it was very prosperous.”

However, it was likely that the worsening situation meant unemployment in Welland in June 2009 was higher than the reported 10.9% rate for the region.

Amber Pearson has been looking for work since being laid-off in February 2009. “One employer asked me, ‘you’re not planning on having more kids, are you?’ They’re not supposed to ask you that. One person asked what the health of my parents was. Probably because they figure if my parents are sick, I’d take the time off to take care of them.”

They basically bled them dry

Malcolm Allen, MP, notes, “A lot of the manufacturing facilities in Welland didn’t get investment... They basically bled them dry over the years, put in no new money, then they just walked away.”

USW Union President Joe Buote says that Henniges Automotive let down the community. “There’s been very little new investment … if one of our owners over the years had sunk money into the mill, this place would be successful for many years.”

Tubular products sitting in the ports

Mariea McNelis from the United Way speaks about CanGrow, a canning factory that, until recently, processed local peaches and other fruit. “The fruit came from local farmers, which they’ve lost out now because the factory’s gone. The people that worked there, they also provided canned goods to Project Share which is a food bank in Niagara Falls, and now we’re seeing people that worked there, are now going to Project Share to get food.” Says Rick Alakas, “You know what’s frustrating for me... to sit here today and know that the Chinese have 300,000 tons of tubular products sitting in the ports of Vancouver and Montreal just waiting to unload them at the first opportunity, and our federal government won’t listen to us when we talk about trade rulings and procurement policies.”

They can make more money elsewhere

On September 2, 2008, John Deere announced that it was closing and would layoff 800 workers by the end of 2009. “John Deere was here for 100 years, and you always anticipated it being here for another 100 years, so that was a huge, huge blow,” says City Economic Development Manager Dan Degazio.

CAW union local president Tom Napper said the announcement of the closure at a meeting of the whole plant came as a complete shock. I would have to say that’s probably one of the worst predicaments I’ve witnessed, to look across the room at people that I’ve worked with for 30 years and plus, and their chins actually hit the pavement.” Napper says, “They made that pretty clear — they’re making money here, but they can make more money elsewhere, specifically Mexico.”

The tax base is eroded

City Councillor Rick Alakas sees the effects of job losses on the community. “One, it drains away our young families, a lot of them are forced to go elsewhere to find a living. Two, the industrial tax base is eroded, and as a result of that, we don’t have money to put back into infrastructure at a time when we probably need to upgrade the infrastructure in order to attract new business or industry.”

Some industrial workers have found jobs in the unionized public sector. Elementary teacher Rosina Bisci sees that, “people who’ve been laid off of the industrial jobs have been finding jobs as support workers and custodians. The most recent custodians are laid off Atlas workers.”

The local hospital is a major employer. Constant cutbacks makes SEIU member Teri Pearson nervous “How can you have a border town with that kind of tourist industry with no Emergency Room?”

They’re not student jobs, they are just jobs

According to Frank Arcuri of the USW Adjustment Centre, “We’ve got dozens and dozens of $9.75 an hour jobs… It’s all seasonal, it’s all seasonal. ... What used to be student jobs, they are not student jobs. They are just jobs, and that’s the way they’re being pitched to everybody.”   Says Mariea McNelis of the United Way, “The only jobs that I’ve seen in the last couple of years were the call centre jobs, and now we’re seeing them going...and of course they’re paying $10 per hour.”

We need to train — but train for what?

Mariea McNelis speaks about workers from Dana Canada, a manufacturing company that closed in 2008. “Some of those people took retirement and some of them went to work in a factory in Welland, and then that factory went down. So now it’s like a revolving door. Now they’re unemployed again.”  “We need to train — but train for what? No one knows,” says Malcolm Allen who notes that many laid-off industrial workers have skills that could and should be put to use before they atrophy.

There’s a lot of people in denial right now

Says Amber Pearson, “My unemployment runs out in December, when that runs out and if I don’t have a job, we stand to lose this house...No one expected this to happen.”

Dave was laid-off from Henniges in December 2008. “I think there’s a lot of people in denial right now. They’re collecting their unemployment cheques and think every thing’s fine. But I think they’re gonna get a real wake up call — I think reality is gonna hit them pretty hard.” Dave summarized his reality: ‘Fortunately, I’ve got family that helps me out. Otherwise, I’d probably be starving.’

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