Satisfied Brake to cut 180 jobs
Posted By Greg Peerenboom
Posted 10 days ago
The shadow cast by the high loonie has darkened Christmas prospects for employees at the city's fourth largest industrial employer, Satisfied Brake Products.
The automotive brake maker told staff Wednesday that about 180 of them will be laid off by next February.
Entire family incomes will be wiped out, said Sean Floyd, the local representative for Retail Wholesale Department Store Union, manufacturing division, local 713.
"The biggest hit is that we have many two-salaried families in this place, in some cases, three salaries," Floyd said, explaining that not only does a set of parents work at Satisfied Brake, but also one of their children.
"Satisfied regrets that it is forced to make this decision. We know these layoffs will adversely affect both employees and the community," stated a press release hand delivered to the Standard-Freeholder.
The company added its "intent" is to keep the plant open.
The company representative did not stay to be interviewed. A copy was not provided first to the union, Floyd said. The layoff notice is the biggest since Domtar announced its Cornwall plant closure - a loss of 390 jobs - almost two years ago to the day.
It's the continuation of a grim trend in the manufacturing sector.
"We're in a phase now of seeing the obliteration of the middle classes," Floyd said, citing 300,000 job losses in Ontario and Quebec since the loonie started its climb to parity against the U.S. dollar a few years ago.
Satisfied Brake employees had been steeling themselves against the deep cuts.
"Yeah, they've been saying that again and again; there's been rumours going around the plant," said Lise LaFrance, who was among the first to leave the Education Street plant at the conclusion of the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift.
She had become resigned to her fate.
"There's not much you can do about it," said the middle-aged woman who had seven years of service, adding she'll get by until she finds other work because her boyfriend has a job.
Most workers stoically trudged on past attempts to interview them over their particular situation.
Most of those who stopped momentarily indicated they were among "the lucky," including Lorraine Gregoire and her boyfriend Eric Bailey, who were among the first to be hired by Satisfied Brake when it opened in 1997.
"It's really sad, so sad," Gregoire said.
"All my buddies will all be gone," she said, of the friendships she's made while there.
That included Bailey, whom she knew for some time, but started dating about six months ago.
Another co-worker, who left before giving her name, said even her nine years of service wasn't enough to keep her on payroll.
The layoff slices Satisfied Brake's staff by almost two thirds and its operations from three shifts over 24 hours to one shift.
It will be reduced to the eighth largest industrial employer in the city from the fourth largest.
At its peak a few years ago, the plant had 600 workers.
In those better times, Satisfied Brake had received kudos from a big industry consulting firm, Frost & Sullivan, which gave them the 2005 Growth Strategy Leadership Award for increasing sales and expanding its customer base.
Due to the plant's relatively young life, Floyd doubts any of the affected workers would be able to bridge the gap between employment and retirement by stretching out their severance and Employment Insurance pay.
So unlike many of Domtar's employees who may have managed to maintain a semblance of their lifestyle and stay in the city, ex-Satisfied Brake workers will have to wait it out on government assistance until they find new work or move out of town.
The fallout won't just be shouldered by the out-of-work, as the ripple effect will hurt the local economy, Floyd said.
He said the average wage was between $13 and $14 an hour, although some workers earn more than $15. Add benefits and the total value increases to almost $19.
Floyd said the union couldn't do much more to prevent the big layoff. It had already accepted an 18-month wage freeze which began earlier this year and allowed a "two-tier" salary grid which paid new workers less.
The concessions, he said, saved the company about $500,000 annually. While the high Canadian dollar was the main culprit, the Satisfied Brake press release said: "higher oil prices, raw material costs and higher utility prices have eliminated Satisfied's Canadian manufacturing competitive advantages."
Satisfied said 80 per cent of its brake products are sold in the U.S., making the city plant vulnerable.
Most of its revenue is paid in a less valuable U.S. dollar while expenses are paid in Canadian currency.
"As a result, some products are no longer economically feasible to produce in Canada, and therefore, production and staffing levels must be scaled back," the press release stated.
Under such conditions, Floyd could understand Satisfied's decision, especially when senior levels of government don't stand in the way of corporations.
"The manufacturing sector is being sold out by the governments," he said.
"We have petitioned through our national union and (local) council for assistance from both provincial and federal governments and received zilch.
"The strength of the Canadian dollar is playing a major role in mass termination in the manufacturing sector," he said, blaming the federal Conservative government for not reining in the high-flying loonie.
He said the Liberal provincial government's auto sector programs are designed to boost research and development, "not to help the guy on the street pay rent or feed his kids."
Provincial Liberal MPP Jim Brownell was unaware of the union representative's criticism when he left a voice mail at the Standard-Freeholder.
"It's very sad that at this time of year as we head into holidays that we have another (layoff)," Brownell said. He added he will be contacting Satisfied Brake for more information and then lobby the ministries of post-secondary training and economic development and trade to assist the laid off workers.
Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry's federal Conservative MP Guy Lauzon was attending a vote in the House of Commons and was unavailable for comment.
Find thousands of Bilingual jobs at LatPro.com.
Posted 10 days ago
The shadow cast by the high loonie has darkened Christmas prospects for employees at the city's fourth largest industrial employer, Satisfied Brake Products.
The automotive brake maker told staff Wednesday that about 180 of them will be laid off by next February.
Entire family incomes will be wiped out, said Sean Floyd, the local representative for Retail Wholesale Department Store Union, manufacturing division, local 713.
"The biggest hit is that we have many two-salaried families in this place, in some cases, three salaries," Floyd said, explaining that not only does a set of parents work at Satisfied Brake, but also one of their children.
"Satisfied regrets that it is forced to make this decision. We know these layoffs will adversely affect both employees and the community," stated a press release hand delivered to the Standard-Freeholder.
The company added its "intent" is to keep the plant open.
The company representative did not stay to be interviewed. A copy was not provided first to the union, Floyd said. The layoff notice is the biggest since Domtar announced its Cornwall plant closure - a loss of 390 jobs - almost two years ago to the day.
It's the continuation of a grim trend in the manufacturing sector.
"We're in a phase now of seeing the obliteration of the middle classes," Floyd said, citing 300,000 job losses in Ontario and Quebec since the loonie started its climb to parity against the U.S. dollar a few years ago.
Satisfied Brake employees had been steeling themselves against the deep cuts.
"Yeah, they've been saying that again and again; there's been rumours going around the plant," said Lise LaFrance, who was among the first to leave the Education Street plant at the conclusion of the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift.
She had become resigned to her fate.
"There's not much you can do about it," said the middle-aged woman who had seven years of service, adding she'll get by until she finds other work because her boyfriend has a job.
Most workers stoically trudged on past attempts to interview them over their particular situation.
Most of those who stopped momentarily indicated they were among "the lucky," including Lorraine Gregoire and her boyfriend Eric Bailey, who were among the first to be hired by Satisfied Brake when it opened in 1997.
"It's really sad, so sad," Gregoire said.
"All my buddies will all be gone," she said, of the friendships she's made while there.
That included Bailey, whom she knew for some time, but started dating about six months ago.
Another co-worker, who left before giving her name, said even her nine years of service wasn't enough to keep her on payroll.
The layoff slices Satisfied Brake's staff by almost two thirds and its operations from three shifts over 24 hours to one shift.
It will be reduced to the eighth largest industrial employer in the city from the fourth largest.
At its peak a few years ago, the plant had 600 workers.
In those better times, Satisfied Brake had received kudos from a big industry consulting firm, Frost & Sullivan, which gave them the 2005 Growth Strategy Leadership Award for increasing sales and expanding its customer base.
Due to the plant's relatively young life, Floyd doubts any of the affected workers would be able to bridge the gap between employment and retirement by stretching out their severance and Employment Insurance pay.
So unlike many of Domtar's employees who may have managed to maintain a semblance of their lifestyle and stay in the city, ex-Satisfied Brake workers will have to wait it out on government assistance until they find new work or move out of town.
The fallout won't just be shouldered by the out-of-work, as the ripple effect will hurt the local economy, Floyd said.
He said the average wage was between $13 and $14 an hour, although some workers earn more than $15. Add benefits and the total value increases to almost $19.
Floyd said the union couldn't do much more to prevent the big layoff. It had already accepted an 18-month wage freeze which began earlier this year and allowed a "two-tier" salary grid which paid new workers less.
The concessions, he said, saved the company about $500,000 annually. While the high Canadian dollar was the main culprit, the Satisfied Brake press release said: "higher oil prices, raw material costs and higher utility prices have eliminated Satisfied's Canadian manufacturing competitive advantages."
Satisfied said 80 per cent of its brake products are sold in the U.S., making the city plant vulnerable.
Most of its revenue is paid in a less valuable U.S. dollar while expenses are paid in Canadian currency.
"As a result, some products are no longer economically feasible to produce in Canada, and therefore, production and staffing levels must be scaled back," the press release stated.
Under such conditions, Floyd could understand Satisfied's decision, especially when senior levels of government don't stand in the way of corporations.
"The manufacturing sector is being sold out by the governments," he said.
"We have petitioned through our national union and (local) council for assistance from both provincial and federal governments and received zilch.
"The strength of the Canadian dollar is playing a major role in mass termination in the manufacturing sector," he said, blaming the federal Conservative government for not reining in the high-flying loonie.
He said the Liberal provincial government's auto sector programs are designed to boost research and development, "not to help the guy on the street pay rent or feed his kids."
Provincial Liberal MPP Jim Brownell was unaware of the union representative's criticism when he left a voice mail at the Standard-Freeholder.
"It's very sad that at this time of year as we head into holidays that we have another (layoff)," Brownell said. He added he will be contacting Satisfied Brake for more information and then lobby the ministries of post-secondary training and economic development and trade to assist the laid off workers.
Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry's federal Conservative MP Guy Lauzon was attending a vote in the House of Commons and was unavailable for comment.
Find thousands of Bilingual jobs at LatPro.com.
Labels: Canada, layoffs, Ontario, Satisfied Brake
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