Sad day for workers, as PGW closes in Hawkesbury

It was a sad day for Hawkesbury workers on November 6, as the PGW auto glass plant shut down.

The closure had first been announced on May 8 and at the time of its closing, the PGW plant employed about 160 people.

However in 2005 the plant had 545 employees who made windshields for automobiles.

Yves Charlebois - the chairperson for the Canadian Auto Workers union at the Hawkesbury plant, as well as the previously-closed Oshawa plant - said the union was still negotiating with owners to see what would happen to pensions.

He told workers that the CAW would be "going after management for every penny owed."

Workers speak
Peter Bedard is a father of two who started working at PGW in 1989.
He said he was nine years from retirement and says the value of his expected pension would have been $2,900 a month.

Bedard said he will be seeking new work and waiting to hear news.
"I have two kids in school and my wife. I still have to work. Life has to move on, you need to find something else," he said.

Allan Boa, who had worked as a maintenance electrician for 20 years, said he believed the pensions might be kept secure but limited.

Therefore, in 10 years, workers with 20 years experience might be able to access a pension, albeit one that paid less than a full 30-year pension.

"I hope we get more details but at this point there isn't much," he said.

"I think it's not very a good situation in general . These are high-paying jobs and there are no other jobs around here like this," he said.

Lucia Pitre worked at the plant for 21 years in production.

She said the plant's closing would have a great effect on Hawkesbury.

"There's a lot of people here who have children. A lot of people in Canada are losing their manufacturing jobs, it's hard. We walked out very sad, we were hugging in the parking lot. People have been here for 30 years," she said.
Pitre added she also didn't have information about pensions and that workers were upset with management..

"We found out in May and we still don't have numbers from the company," she said.

Energy costs blamed
The closure of the PGW plant, which was established in the 1970s, is another major blow to Eastern Ontario's manufacturing economy.

Last May, President and CEO of Pittsburgh Glass Works Jim Wiggins said the company was "responding to fundamental change in the global automotive [equipment] business that requires suppliers to adjust production and capacity downward to match the significant demand reductions coming from our customers"

The closure is being blamed on higher energy and transportation costs for Canadian factories.

Hawkesbury's PGW plant was part of a chain which includes U.S. plants, and those plants will remain open while the Canadian branches have closed.

Charlebois said the closure was due to protectionism in the United States.

"We've tried everything. We went to the federal, the provincial, the municipal, and it seems like we're all alone. After the manufacturing sector is gone it's very hard to get it back. The plant closing here is because of politics. There's no other reason - we're producing more and better quality than the US. There's no reason other than politics. We're not losing to our competition, we're losing to the United-States and to workers who do the same job. The numbers have shown we're still the best when it comes to productivity, safety and everything else. There is no excuse as far as I'm concerned."

Local politicians and representatives from municipal council did not join workers at their rally on November 6.

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