Lakeport equipment won't stay: Labatt
April 03, 2010
Steve Arnold
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/747208
Labatt Breweries has slammed the door on local efforts to get it to leave behind production equipment when its Hamilton beer plant closes at the end of the month.
Ever since Tuesday's announcement that Lakeport Brewery will close April 30, a small but persistent group of workers and local politicians has pushed for the company to keep the equipment in the plant. They hope a craft brewer or other operation might be convinced to move in, sparing at least some of the 143 jobs to be lost.
In an e-mail Thursday, however, Labatt spokesperson Jeff Ryan said, "We will be using all salvageable equipment in other facilities within our brewery network."
Ryan's statement capped a day in which city and provincial politicians reached for ways to save something from the latest industrial shutdown in the city.
"The most difficult thing for me is that this is becoming a bit of a pattern here in Hamilton," Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath told a morning rally at the plant. "We have to stop and pause and start thinking about
: When do these corporations begin to be concerned about the communities and people that drive their profits year after year after year? When does it become their obligation to take care of the communities that took care of them for so many years?"
She slammed the provincial government for its recent budget that concentrated on corporate tax cuts without tying them to guarantees of jobs and investment.
Ward 2 Councillor Bob Bratina said he will ask the federal Competition Bureau to review Labatt's decision to close Lakeport "to determine whether the unilateral decision by a Canadian company to destroy the historic brewing industry in Hamilton for its own selfish purposes is acceptable and permitted under Canadian law."
Bratina also called on federal Industry Minister Tony Clement to order Labatt not to remove any equipment from the Hamilton plant "until it can be determined whether the company's plans are in violation of the Competition Act or are creating unnecessary hardship for employees of Lakeport Brewery or their families."
Ward 8 Councillor Terry Whitehead suggested creating a new law requiring companies to offer plants for sale before they're allowed to close them.
While Horwath was addressing a crowd of about 50 workers and others at the brewery, Stoney Creek NDP MPP Paul Miller was attacking the government in the legislature.
During question period, he demanded to know when the McGuinty government is going to table a solid job-creation plan for the Hamilton area.
"Members of the government make faint claims of new jobs in the region, but I don't think a $10.25 hourly minimum wage is going to sustain families who have relied on well-paying, permanent, full-time jobs," Miller said.
"When will the McGuinty government's plan for good, well-paying jobs in Hamilton start?"
Miller noted that between Lakeport and Siemens, which will close its local gas turbine plant, the area is losing almost 700 industrial jobs.
In the legislature, Economic Development and Trade Minister Sandra Pupatello said the government is "concerned" over the loss of jobs in Hamilton and is "reaching out" to Labatt and Siemens "to see what we can do to be helpful."
Later, in an e-mail relayed through a spokesperson, Pupatello said the government is "trying to talk to (Labatt) now and we will ask them to do everything they can to help Hamilton, including asking what they are prepared to do regarding their site."
Ryan, of Labatt, said the company is trying to help the Hamilton workers by providing "a substantial amount of money" for re-training and job search services. It is also organizing a job fair for brewery employees on April 14.