New office helps PGW, Ivaco workers

A new Action Centre has been set up on Hawkesbury’s main street to help laid-off workers of Pittsburgh Glass Works and Ivaco Rolling Mills. Isabelle Leduc, a project coordinator, said that results are promising: Since June she has consulted with 55 Ivaco workers and 52 have found new jobs. The Action centre offers workshops on writing resumes, applying for work, and also keeps to date on local job offers among other services. It is funded by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities which has mandated the Employment Services Centre of Prescott Russell, a non-profit funded in part by the province, to help laid off workers to deal with their situation. Leduc said PGW workers are welcome to meet twice a week on Mondays and Tuesdays to discuss pensions, as well as ways to topics to help them with their difficult situation. Since September the Employment Services Centre has also consulted individually with 88 workers of PGW and 21 have already re-entered the workforce. PGW and Ivaco both provided computers for internet searches and the United Steelworkers allowed use of their office space. “Our mandate us to help the residents of Prescott-Russell. We can meet individually and have consultations,” said Leduc. Consultations for workers are free of charge. The office will be open for one year, until July 2010.