Top Navistar officials talked about brighter profit prospects Wednesday but offered no new insight on the future of the company’s idle truck assembly plant in Chatham that has kept employees off the job for almost 8 1/2 months.
Many Navistar employees, who earned an average of about $24 an hour, have started to look for new work or careers because of the lengthy shutdown and no sign of a resumption of operations, according to union officials.
Posted by Ian: Last fall, MacKinnon Transport of Guelph purchased long-established Elgin trucking firm, Walker Transport. In January of 2010, Walker filed for creditor protection, this after laying off 30 drivers the week before Christmas. Obviously the family-run business, originally based in Aylmer, caught the attention of MacKinnon and so the merger proved attractive. It’s hard to imagine Walker’s value deteriorated so quickly. Or do you pick off the attractive fruit from the tree and leave the rest to rot. Kyle Rea had the following update in the Times-Journal (see below), and more background is available here and a further backgrounder, including an interview with MacKinnon President and CEO Evan MacKinnon can be found here . Here’s Kyle’s story …
A trucking company with long roots in the St. Thomas area, acquired last year by a Guelph-based business, has filed for bankruptcy.
On Dec. 3, the CIBC bank called in its loan for L.E. Walker Transport Ltd., — five days later, the company filed for creditor protection and remained that way until its assets were purchased by MacKinnon Transport Inc., of Guelph, Ont., on Jan. 8.
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Mike Fox, a former employee with Walker Transport passes along news he was one of 20 local drivers terminated by MacKinnon Transport out of Guelph, Ont., which acquired Walker Transport in St. Thomas this past fall. At the time, although Julie Tanguay of Walker was coy about the matter, we wrote the move would result in cuts to the local operation, if not the entire withdrawal of operations in St. Thomas. Little did we anticipate MacKinnon would pull the plug on these employees one week prior to Christmas. Read Mike’s comment and the full story here and a further backgrounder, including an interview with MacKinnon President and CEO Evan MacKinnon can be found here .
At that time he told the Times-Journal of the 140 or so employees at Walker, all 100 drivers have already been offered jobs while they’re hoping to hire 20 mechanics, dispatchers and other staff at the company’s headquarters in Guelph.
“We’re remaining optimistic that we can fill those roles with people from St. Thomas,” assured MacKinnon.
Navistar Inc. plans to keep its heavy truck assembly plant in Chatham idle “for now,” but the company’s top official isn’t giving any sign that it will reopen.
Dan Ustian, the company’s chairman and chief executive, told analysts Tuesday that the company has wrestled with the issue for several months but still has made no final decision on whether to close the plant in southwestern Ontario.
The plant has not produced a vehicle in almost six months after 350 employees were laid off and negotiations with the Canadian Auto Workers for a new contract hit an impasse. The shutdown is also adversely affecting numerous suppliers and their workforces.
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Posted by Ian:
On Sept. 4, 2003 International Truck and Engine Corporation announced it would keep its Chatham, Ontario plant open and maintain a production schedule of heavy trucks, as the result of a long-term investment by the company, Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario. Another promise not worth the paper it was written on. Here is the full transcript of that 2003 company release.
When and if Navistar’s idled Richmond Street truck plant re-opens remain in serious doubt.
No new talks are scheduled despite a willingness by the Canadian Auto Worker’s union and the company to return to the bargaining table.
The plant’s 350 workers have been idled since the June 30th expiration of a three-year contract.
A brief meeting in Windsor two weeks ago between both sides was just that — brief.
“The company is sticking to its original proposal to greatly downsize the Chatham operation,” said national CAW representative Joe McCabe.
McCabe admitted the lengthy closure of one of Chatham-Kent’s largest manufacturing facilities is creating a huge financial burden for its unemployed workers and the community in general.
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Queen’s Park
date: October 19, 2009 – 4:00pm
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is slamming the McGuinty government for doing precious little to prevent Navistar from moving truck production from Chatham to Mexico, despite a massive infusion of public dollars.
“More than $60 million of hard-earned taxpayers’ money has been shovelled into the Navistar truck plant in Chatham,” said Horwath during today’s Question Period.
“As a thank you to Ontarians for their generosity, Navistar has shifted production to Mexico, and laid-off all of its 1,200 Chatham workers. When will this government stand up to Navistar and demand it live up to its obligations to Ontario workers and Ontario taxpayers?” she asked.
Horwath added that it appears the McGuinty government has pretty much given up on holding the company to account for its actions.
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WINDSOR, Ont. — Despite investing millions in Navistar’s Ontario operations, the provincial government won’t intervene in a labour dispute that has seen Navistar International shift production from Chatham to Mexico, Sandra Pupatello, minister of economic development and trade, said Wednesday.
“The Ontario government has no role to play in the discussions between workers and the employer,” Pupatello said after addressing an automotive outlook conference at Caesars Windsor. “What is important is that we’ve created an opportunity for there to be significant investment in the Chatham area and in the University of Windsor. Our investment is geared toward R&D — that is creating the next generation of products coming out of Navistar and in supporting training costs for employees in Chatham.”
Despite claims from company president Julie Tanguay last week in the Times-Journal, the merger of L.E. Walker Transport with MacKinnon Transport of Guelph, Ont., is not good news for the city. In fact it means the loss of some jobs and the shutting down of the St. Thomas terminal, likely by the end of the year. Here is the updated story with MacKinnon president Evan MacKinnon from the T-J.
St. Thomas-based Walker Group, which includes well-known L.E Walker Transport Ltd., will close despite reports last week that the facility would remain in town after the 60-year-old company was acquired by MacKinnon Transport of Guelph, Ont.
But until the company sells the facility in St. Thomas, local drivers will be able to use the drop yard at the South Edgeware Road site, says the company’s president.
Friday, the Guelph Mercury reported that MacKinnon’s acquisition of Walker Group — which includes L.E. Walker and Mid America Freight Systems — means the St. Thomas site would close, bringing 120 jobs to Guelph.
President and CEO Evan MacKinnon confirmed that statement.
“The company will be relocated to our facility in Guelph and the terminal will be closed.”
In an interview last week, Julie Tanguay, Walker Group president and soon-to-be executive vice-president of sales for MacKinnon said there wouldn’t be any job losses.
“Right now it’s going to be business as usual (at the St. Thomas facility). We’ll continue operating out of this facility servicing our customers.”
MacKinnon said it’s true that it will be business as usual for now — he expects the company to be relocated before the end of 2009, meaning local office facilities will be shuttered.
Of the 140 or so employees at Walker, all 100 drivers have already been offered jobs while they’re hoping to hire 20 mechanics, dispatchers and other staff at the company’s headquarters in Guelph.
“We’re remaining optimistic that we can fill those roles with people from St. Thomas.”
As for drivers, MacKinnon noted they’ll be establishing a drop yard in the London area, but since the St. Thomas facility is a fair distance away from Highway 401, it may not be used for this role. When MacKinnon officially assumes ownership of the South Edgeware Road site, the plan is to sell it.
“It will be available until we are able to sell it. So if it takes nine months or a year to sell it, because of the current real estate economy, we’re not going to own it and rent one in London at the same time,” he said. “If it happens that we end up retaining that facility for some period of time, we would certainly utilize it….There are a lot of local drivers that work in the London area.”
When all is said and done, MacKinnon Transport will employ 420 people and operate 340 trucks.
The intention is to close the Walker Group’s trucking terminal in St. Thomas and relocate those operations to MacKinnon Transport, which is headquartered on Laird Road in Guelph.
MacKinnon said Guelph operations, which will continue as MacKinnon Transport, can accommodate most Walker staff, with the anticipated loss of about 20 employees in St. Thomas.
But that means 120 more jobs in Guelph, he stressed.
