Former employees of Concord’s Progressive Moulded Products Ltd. are demanding the company give them severance and termination pay. STAFF PHOTO/CAROLINE GRECH
Vaughan
July 07, 2008 04:47 PM
By: Caroline Grech, Staff Writer
Former employees of Concord’s Progressive Moulded Products Ltd. are enduring blistering temperatures to maintain a blockade to stop trucks from entering the Keele Street facility.
Hundreds of workers, many of whom have camped out since Friday, are demanding the company give them severance and termination pay and are hoping the involvement of the Canadian Auto Workers Union will get them just that.
Jerry Dias, assistant to CAW president Buzz Hargrove, came after phone calls for help from Progressive employees. He decried the situation, saying it’s scandalous the federal government is allowing the banks to be paid, but not the workers.
Emerging from the building Monday, after negotiations with the company, Mr. Dias told the men and women Ford has given $2 million to go toward paying workers, but Chrysler and General Motors have not followed as of yet.
Taking the pulse of the workers, Mr. Dias wanted to start to let Ford trucks into the facility while not letting GM or Chrysler trucks in, in an effort to pressure those two companies to put money in to cover severance pay for the workers.
“The fight is with Chrysler and GM. We’re doing everything we can to help them (the workers) but we’re fighting an uphill battle,” Mr. Dias said. “It’s a matter of time before the police move in. We’re trying to make the best out of a bad situation.”
Mr. Dias is also hoping to have employees’ benefits extended until the end of July as they were cut off without warning last week.
For Patricia Fucilli, who worked at the company with her mother, Sandra, benefits are her primary concern as her mother has breast cancer and needs medication.
“Right now she’s sitting at home crying. She has no money. That’s not fair for them to do that to workers,” Ms Fucilli said through tears, adding the severance pay they are owed would help keep them on their feet for a couple of months.
Mr. Dias is still in negotiations with lawyers for the auto companies involved and could not give a time as to when some type of settlement could be reached.
The company sought a court injunction Saturday to stop workers from blocking trucks from entering the premises.
The order allows York Regional Plice to remove workers who are stopping trucks from getting into 10 properties where workers lost their jobs, but as of 1 p.m. Monday, workers were still blocking the driveways into the buildings.
Cars driving by honked their support for the workers.
Employees cheered as truck after truck arriving to pick up equipment stopped to turn into the facility, but ultimately moved on because they couldn’t enter.
Although York Region Police have the right to remove the former employees from the premises because of the court order, York Region Const. Marina Orlovski said officers are there to keep the peace.
"We haven't had any issues," she said. "We've been able to negotiate with the parties, so there's been no reason to remove anyone from the property.
"If it were to get out of control, we would be within our rights to remove them."