Bombardier's de Havilland plant near Toronto will remain open after workers overwhelmingly accepted a new labour agreement that will keep the assembly site open for at least another three years in return for greater work flexibility.
As part of the deal, which was accepted after Bombardier threatened to transfer jobs to its Montreal or Belfast facilities or outsource to cut costs, about 650 jobs will be cut. However, work on the Global Express and Dash 8 will continue to be done at de Havilland at least until the end of the new contract in June 2006.
The new agreement, which comes into force on 21 June, will also give the 1,900 unionised workers a 7% wage increase over three years plus improvements to pension plans and severance clauses.
"We went into bargaining under extraordinarily difficult circumstances with the orders down or cancelled as airlines in the US declare bankruptcy and the threat of war depresses travel," says union president Buzz Hargrove.
On 5 March, Bombardier said it would lay off 3,000 aerospace workers in Canada and Northern Ireland over the next 12 months (Flight International, 11-17 March).
* The Canadian Auto Workers Union, which represents 9,500 of Air Canada's 35,000 employees, has urged its members to forego a 2.5% wage increase due to kick in on 31 March. The CAW also wants to negotiate a new labour agreement with the troubled carrier which is looking to cut C$650 million ($438 million) from its labour costs.
Source: Flight International
