Purina closure will cost community nearly 90 good jobs
MISSISSAUGA, ON, Nov. 9, 2018 /CNW/ - Nestlé's subsidiary Purina will force at least 87 Canadians out of work when the GTA pet food manufacturer moves operations to the United States in 2019.
"There's no reason for Nestlé to close this facility," said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. "Generations of Canadians have worked at Purina since 1967 and now politics is forcing people out of work."
The surprise announcement came only three days before the commencement of a new round of contract negotiations with members of Unifor Local 41-O working in production, distribution, maintenance, and sanitation. Just last month the facility broke a record for number of units shipped, totalling approximately $51 million.
The forty-year success of the Mississauga facility leads Unifor to believe that the company is moving operations at a loss to satisfy U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been bullying Canadian firms with tariffs in an attempt to subsidize the American manufacturing sector.
Unifor said it intends to fight the closure with political and consumer pressure.
"We're not taking this laying down," said Joe Say, Unifor Local 41-O President. "Mississauga's Purina workers helped make the company into what it is today."
Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector, representing 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.
SOURCE Unifor
please contact Unifor Communications Representative Ian Boyko at [email protected] or 778-903-6549 (cell).
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