MHERSTBURG — Workers at a Crown Royal whisky bottling plant in Ontario have ratified a closure deal that gives them an increase in severance pay and other benefits, as the union hopes other liquor manufacturers might be able to save those jobs.Unifor Local 200 president John D’Agnolo said 89 per cent of workers at the Diageo plant in Amherstburg, Ont., voted in favour of a closure agreement the union negotiated with the employer.He said the vote was conducted just one day before the workers’ contract expired on Dec. 2, which could have left them with the minimum benefits required under labour laws if a deal was not reached.“We knew that, we realized that, and the company recognized that,” he said in an interview Dec. 3.“I told them we need to sit down and go over and see what we can do to get as much as we can for the members.”D’Agnolo said the deal provides the 165 union members with extra pay on top of the severance pay they are entitled to under the collective agreement. He said the union bargained “a substantial increase” on top of the two weeks of pay for each year of seniority.“An extra, I don’t want to call it a bonus, but money on top of that, depending on your years of seniority,” he said.He said the deal also gives workers who are going to lose their jobs access to a program funded by the company to help them get education and write new resumes.“There was a lot of work that was done to get where we were, but clearly the members are devastated,” he said of the looming plant closure.“They were hoping to retire there. These are good paying jobs with pensions.”Diageo announced in August that it was planning to shut down the Crown Royal bottling plant at the end of February 2026. The company said it was shifting some bottling volume to the United States in a move to improve its North American supply chain, but Ontario Premier Doug Ford has slammed Diageo for that decision.D’Agnolo said reaching the final agreement was a sad moment for the union members, “and the mixed emotions were quite tough when being in that room.” (ICE TORONTO)

Fonte notizia: https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/