The provincial government says the layoffs at the Alstom plant in Thunder Bay will only be temporary.
Associate Transport Minister Stan Cho assures that workers will be back on the job by the summer.
“$171 million for 94 Go Transit rail coaches at the Alstom facility in Thunder Bay,” Cho told the Ontario Legislature during Question Period Thursday morning.
“There is a lot of work on the way to Thunder Bay and Alstom and we’re confident they’ll be up and running in June.”
Cho adds the plant is re-tooling for new rail cars that will be required in Ontario.
“The layoffs are temporary and Alstom’s leadership team has spoken with our government and said exactly that, that their intention is to bring these workers back in June of this year. And they have to because there’s a lot of construction happening when it comes to transit in our province.”
NDP leader Andrea Horwath says the province’s RFP (Request for Proposals) for transit vehicles says just 10 percent has to be Canadian made, instead of the previous 25 percent and suggests that’s responsible for the layoffs.
