Union officials representing some 1,200 assembly workers at Bombardier’s de Havilland plant in suburban Toronto last month characterized the company’s latest layoff announcement as “a cannon, and not a gun, at our heads.” After talks broke down between the union and Bombardier at the end of January, the company began preparations to move Global Express and Learjet 45 wing production from the Downsview plant to Montreal, where the machinist union representing workers there has pushed for the job transfer.
Since talks resumed February 17, however, the union had expressed guarded optimism over “some progress” toward a settlement. But when the company announced its decision to eliminate another 3,000 jobs companywide within the next 12 months, the glint of hope had turned to renewed resentment among the workers at de Havilland, most of whom had returned to work in February after a six-week temporary plant closure suspended Q200, Q300 and Q400 production late last year.
