KITCHENER, ON, Feb. 11 /CNW/ - Kitchener Frame, owned by MartinreaInternational, announced it may be closing its doors in April 2009, putting800 workers out of a job. Another 400 are currently on lay-off from the plant,which produces automotive frames. CAW Local 1451 members who work in the office and the plant received thedevastating news yesterday at a membership meeting. The union is pressingMartinrea to extend the life of the facility to secure employment for themembers. CAW Local 1451 President Mike Devine tied the closure announcement to thesoaring Canadian dollar and unbalanced trade, both of which are making itdifficult to compete and easier for companies to pull the plug on theirCanadian operations. Last April, Devine had an impromptu meeting with Prime Minister StephenHarper at a local Royal Canadian Legion branch, where he and other CAWactivists were demonstrating outside. At the meeting, Harper suggested that unemployed workers ought to look to Alberta to find employment. TheKitchener-Waterloo region has lost more than 8,000 manufacturing jobs in thelast two years alone. “This government must come up with real solutions to address job loss andthe de-industrialization of our communities,” said Devine. “People cannot beexpected to uproot their families and move to another province because theCanadian government is sitting on its hands.” The facility used to produce frames for three General Motors assemblyplants, but now only supplies one. Current products - the GMC Envoy and TrailBlazer have not yet been replaced, according to Hemi Mitic, assistant to theCAW president. “The government must develop an auto policy that includes notonly auto assembly, but also auto parts manufacturing so the industry can berebuilt,” said Mitic. The plant opened in 1966 (under the Canada-U.S. Auto Pact) and employedover 3,000 workers at its peak in 1979. Martinrea has operations in Canada,the United States, Mexico and Europe.

 

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