The Mayor of Saint-Laurent reacts to the announcement of 771 layoffs by Sears

SAINT-LAURENT, QC, Jan. 15, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Mayor of Saint-Laurent Alan DeSousa reacted to the announcement by Sears late today that it would be closing a customer contact centre (CCC) and downsizing a logistics centre, both located on Thimens Boulevard in the borough. A total of 771 employees are expected to be laid off in the wake of agreements between Sears and IBM to outsource work currently performed at three contact centres, including the one in Saint-Laurent. Over the next nine months, 1,345 jobs in the cities of Saint-Laurent, Belleville and Toronto will be affected. However, Sears plans to continue operating its department store at Place Vertu and its distribution centre.

"Although the company has given assurances that it has a plan in place to help its employees find other work, my colleagues on council and I plan to monitor the situation very closely," said Mayor DeSousa. "We are currently in discussions with the various parties to clarify the details of this surprise announcement and assess the impact it will have on the Saint-Laurent business community. Our economic development team has already been in touch with Emploi-Québec about the issue. In short, this is very bad news for these Sears employees and their families early in the New Year. We want to assure them of our heartfelt support as they face this challenge."

An extremely dynamic business centre, Saint-Laurent is recognized as Montreal's second-largest industrial hub. Over 100,000 people are employed in the borough in various sectors, including four major industrial clusters: life sciences, information and communications technologies, aerospace and clean energy.

SOURCE: Ville de Montréal - Arrondissement de Saint-Laurent

Source: 
Borough Management
Communications and Borough-Citizen Relations Division

Information: Paul Lanctôt, 514 855-6000, ext. 4310

Media cell: 514 825-6231