Vol. 73/No. 50      December 28, 2009

In August Prysmian threatened to close the factory in two months if no agreement with the union was reached. Despite such pressure workers said 98 percent of workers in production and 93 percent in administration voted October 24 to reject the company’s latest offer. It included more concessions on top of those originally demanded and a return-to-work protocol that included only 37 of the 200 workers, union officials said.

Workers on the picket line December 5 told the Militant that they have received their severance notices from the company. They noted that for many of them as many as three generations of their families have worked for the company during its 60 years of operation here.

Bosses at General Cable in La Malbaie are also using the threat of a plant closure to demand 10 percent to 20 percent wage cuts, reduced vacation time, and important cuts to the pension plan. Workers gave the USW negotiating committee a strike mandate in August. General Cable has announced a temporary closure of its plant that employs 100 workers in Saint-Jerome, Quebec.
 
 
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