Allstom packing in Sorrel-Tracy

Julian Arsenalt
Tap

In the absence of new agreements, the multinational will not renew the lease of existing facilities from 2013 onwards. Activities include Saint-Bruno-de-Monterville, the southern suburbs of Montreal, and La Pocatier in Boss-Saint-Laurent, formerly Bombardier.

Workers who have been worried for weeks now learned the bad news Wednesday afternoon during a meeting with the employer.

“Employees were knocked down, hurt and frustrated,” union president Pierre-Luke Pigeon-Reward said on the phone. We go through whole emotions. We all have homes and families. It was stressful. ”

There were about 90 workers in the workshop, but there were about 15 layoffs in late April as the order book was thin. According to Mr. Pigeon-Reward, most mechanics should be out of the store by August, with some welders able to maintain their livelihood until the end of December.

In addition to working on light rail vehicle contracts for Ottawa and Toronto, he is responsible for building bogies for the second order for Azure cars from the Montreal Metro at Allstom’s workshop in Sorel-Tracy. Welders are also involved in the Amtrak project in the United States.

“Despite many attempts, we have not been successful in increasing the workload, which will extend the life cycle of this workshop,” Allstom spokeswoman Toussa Hryke explained in an email.

The goal of the French giant is to “transfer as many employees as possible to other positions in the company,” she said, adding that there are currently more than 140 vacancies in the company.

Alstom has made a number of commitments regarding the acquisition of Bombardier Transport, the transaction becoming the largest shareholder in the Kaisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec French multinational, refiner with approximately 14% stake.

According to details released by Quebecois Wool Socks in February 2020, at the time of the announcement of the transaction, “La Pocatier and Sorrel-Tracy sites expansion” were in this number.

Kaisse spokesman Maxim Chagnon, however, believes Allstom is fulfilling its commitments as its operations are currently “growing” in Quebec.

“One hundred positions are currently being recruited, more than the number of positions currently available in Sorrel,” he explained. We can realize Alstom’s true desire to change as many people as possible. ”

Mr Chagnon said the multinational US headquarters had moved from New York to Saint-Bruno-de-Monterville. The French giant design and engineering center will soon move to the southern suburbs of Montreal.

Despite everything, Sorrell-Tracy Mayor, Serge Peloquin, gave another explanation for the turn of events. In a telephone interview, he worked hard to hide his frustration and anger, believing that Alstom’s workshop would receive good support.

“Can the government give us as much power to protect our facilities in Sorrel as in La Pocatier?” He asked, referring to Alstom’s $ 56 million loan from the Legolt government to modernize the former Bombardier transport plant.

If the site had 400 employees in 2026 and 350 in the next three years, the multinational would not have to repay this amount.

Mr Peloquin explained that his negotiations with Alstom had suggested that Sorrel-Tracy multinational plans should continue, since he had made deals with Bombardier Transport. He said his municipality should try to find a solution “to be part of the future with Alstom”.