Indalex in Pointe Claire - Bankruptcy
Saturday, Apr 11, 2009
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MONTREAL, April 8 /CNW Telbec/ - Indalex in Pointe Claire has filed for protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act thus jeopardizing over 225 jobs. "We're worried. It's an established company that normally should not be experiencing liquidity problems. The speculation fever that hit various acquiring companies such as Sun Capital over the past few years has weakened the company. Our negotiations are at a standstill," declared Pierre Arseneau, union representative for United Steelworkers (FTQ).
On March 20, the company, whose head office is located in Chicago, filed for Chapter 11 under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Pierre Arseneau said "we knew this did not look good for us here in Quebec. Indalex has five facilities in Canada. It's having serious liquidity problems in terms of buying raw material, especially aluminum billet. Over the past two months we noticed an increase in the number of problems at the Pointe-Claire plant; for example shutting down work teams for lack of materials such as paint, aluminum billet, etc. We must save this Quebec plant because not only are more than 225 jobs at stake but this facility is also the group's most profitable."
The union representative stated that their collective agreement ended last December 23, 2008. "We've requested that negotiations be delayed to allow the company to deal with its liquidity problem, he explained. It's basically status quo until the situation improves. Negotiations are equally difficult for office workers. They became unionized last year. They had to refer to the Negotiations Act to settle their first collective agreement. The employer now wants to freeze salaries so that it doesn't have to pay the increases negotiated in the agreement two years ago. We need to let the storm clouds pass and then negotiate under better conditions."
The representative for United Steelworkers (FTQ) concluded by expressing serious concern for Quebec's manufacturing jobs. "Where is the Charest and Harper governments' industrial strategy to help Quebec stand out in a very competitive global market in crisis?"
The Indalex plant in Pointe Claire manufactures aluminum sections. It sought protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act on April 3 of this year.