August 27, 2024
Today, Unifor leadership met with Ontario Minister of Labour David Piccini and senior ministerial staff to update the government on the ongoing dispute at Wescast Industries in Wingham, Ontario. The meeting was held as part of Unifor’s continuing efforts to resolve the dispute between the union and the company’s owners, Bohong Industries Group in China over approximately $10 million in unpaid severance and termination pay owed to nearly 200 workers.
The dispute between Unifor and Wescast began after the company withhold funds owed to workers who elected to relinquish recall rights after prolonged layoffs at the plant. Workers became eligible for the payments in April, 2024. The union’s delegation to the Minister of Labour included National President Lana Payne and Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi who were also joined by senior union staff and Laura Collison, a Local 4207 member and 44-year veteran worker of the Wingham plant, who shared her personal story with the Minister.
“Our members, many of whom are multi-generational workers at the plant, helped build this company and now are being abandoned,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “The financial hardships and emotional toll on workers and their families is unfathomable, with some facing the threat of losing their homes as they struggle to make ends meet. It’s time for this overseas company to do what’s right.”
Collison described the devastating impact this dispute has had on her and how the situation has personally affected workers like herself, many of whom dedicated decades of their work lives to Wescast.
“We were laid off since July 27, 2023 with just one week’s notice and roughly 80 per cent of my brothers and sisters have devoted 25 years or more to the company and many are struggling since then,” said Unifor Local 4207 member at Wescast Laura Collison. “In my 44 years of service, I made countless sacrifices, underwent two shoulder surgeries because of my job, all to ensure the company’s success. Now, they’ve been unresponsive, lacking transparency and not understanding their responsibilities and duties to us. Hard working Canadians deserve better, my more than one hundred fellow employees deserve better, I deserve better.”
While the meeting with the Minister took place today, the union and the company are also engaged in an arbitration over the dispute.
Unifor has pursued several avenues to ensure that Bohong Industries Group is held accountable for its actions and is compelled to honour its legal obligations under Ontario labour laws and the collective agreement between the union and the company.
“We were very pleased at how receptive Minister Piccini was to our concerns and to those of workers like Laura Collison who have suffered for far too long,” said Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi. “Unifor members at Wescast deserve a just outcome and we will not stop escalating this dispute until workers are paid every cent they are owed.”