Larry Myles, President of Teamsters Local Union 555M, said he was outraged by the loss of some 500 jobs at Transcontinental Printing.
“The union was informed of the layoffs just 15 minutes before the company made the official announcement to its workers. This is a contemptuous attitude that shows just how little respect the company has for its workers” said Mr. Myles.
Since the acquisition of Quad/Graphics Canada (formerly Quebecor World) assets by Transcontinental, some restructuring was to be expected, but the closure of the Rivière-des-Prairies printing plant was never foreseen by the union. According to Larry Myles, “We had every hope that Transcontinental would keep the Rivière-des-Prairies plant open. Last week, some salaried workers were offered premiums under a voluntary termination program with an eye to keeping the plant open. And bonuses had even been proposed over the past few weeks.”
The Teamsters Union deplores both the decision to close the plant and the way in which the announcement was made. There were no discussions or consultations about integrating Quad into Transcontinental’s operations. “Transcontinental’s attitude is unacceptable and distressing” concluded Larry Myles.
The Teamsters intend to keep a close eye on the situation and are not excluding the possibility of asking the government to assist workers caught up in the turmoil.
Source: TEAMSTERS CANADA
For further information
Teamsters Local Union 555M
Larry Myles: 514 381-9131
