BRADFORD, ON – Unifor is condemning the decision by U.S.-based multinational Selig Group to relocate major industrial equipment from its Bradford, Ontario manufacturing facility to a plant in Chicago – threatening the livelihoods of dozens of workers.
“This is another example of the urgent need to protect Canadian jobs and stop companies from exploiting the U.S. trade war, using it as an excuse to gut Canadian manufacturing facilities,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “Selig’s owners have long benefited from public funding to build up its operations in Bradford, only to now pull the rug out from under its loyal workforce and the community that supported it for years. It’s unacceptable.”
Unifor Local 333 represents 50 workers at the Bradford facility. The union local says the company has confirmed the transfer of critical heavy machinery—including a slitter and a laminator—that account for roughly 65% of the facility’s total production. The slitter is scheduled for removal in the coming weeks and the laminator will follow in July. Both are being shipped to Selig’s U.S. facility in Chicago.
The union warns that the sudden relocation of heavy machinery could result in the elimination of one of three production shifts and result in 20 unionized jobs being eliminated. The union is also concerned that the remaining machinery at the site relies heavily on output tied to the equipment being removed, risking further jobs.
“This isn’t just about moving equipment around, it’s about the future of our jobs, our facility, and our families,” said Lisa Marks, President of Unifor Local 333. “Our members are angry and anxious. We worked hard to build this plant from the ground up with years of loyalty, community support and government investment. Now, Selig is turning its back on all of us.”
Questions remain about the applicability of the tariffs under the U.S. International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and whether Selig is failing to comply with CUSMA (formerly NAFTA) requirements due to sourcing decisions or certification issues.
Selig opened the Bradford facility in 2021 after a multi-million dollar renovation, supported in part by municipal funding through the Industrial Areas Community Improvement Plan (IACIP). The facility produces sealing and venting materials for packaging across several sectors, including food and beverage, healthcare, chemicals, among others.
The potential job losses at Selig come at a time when Unifor is urging the federal government to enforce and expand the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act (FEMA) to penalize corporations that shift production out of Canada. Read Unifor’s media release on FEMA here.
“We simply can’t sit idly by while our jobs and are communities are under threat in this trade war,” said Payne. “Canada needs stronger tools to protect domestic manufacturing jobs and this situation exemplifies why we need to use FEMA to prevent more equipment from moving south putting more Canadian workers at risk of losing their jobs.”