Destruction of
Manufacturing Continues in Ontario
Workers rally outside Erwin Hymer plant in Cambridge demanding
answers,
February 19, 2019.
Those presently in control of the Erwin Hymer
Group
North America, headquartered in Cambridge, Ontario advised on
February 15 that the company was going into receivership and
closing its operations that very day, throwing close to 900
workers in the Kitchener-Waterloo region out of work,
including 850
workers at its Cambridge plant. As if that shocking statement was
not
enough, workers were further informed that they would be paid
their
last week's wages and any vacation pay but no severance pay. Such
is
the socially irresponsible and brutal nature of today's relations
of
production between the Canadian working class and the global
financial
oligarchy.
Workers at plants in Cambridge and Kitchener have
been manufacturing recreational vehicles (RVs) since 1974.
The
plants were locally owned and operated under the Roadtrek brand
until 2011 when, unable to recover from the 2009
recession,
the owners sold the enterprise to a U.S. investment firm,
Industrial
Opportunity Partners. The chaos and insecurity for the workers
did not
end, as the new owners flipped part of the enterprise to other
oligarchs, leaving the business in the hands of Germany-based
Erwin
Hymer Group North America in 2016.
The crisis-ridden system did not stop there, as
the
Hymer Group itself soon faced a takeover by U.S.-based Thor
Industries.
The oligarchs completed a purchase deal on January 31,
resulting
in yet another ownership group, U.S.-based Corner Flag, seizing
control. However, the two plants in Ontario were left out of the
deal
and went into
receivership on February 15, shutting down without warning.
Some
of the employees have been with the company for 30
to 40
years. The shops were non-unionized. The financial firm Alvarez
&
Marsal Canada Inc. has been appointed receiver of the
company.
No political authority either federal or
provincial has
lifted a finger to intervene in the situation and defend Canadian
workers or the economy throughout the ordeal. On the contrary
Premier
Doug Ford has declared Ontario open for business giving the
financial
oligarchy carte blanche
to do
whatever serves its narrow interests.
The turmoil at and eventual closure of the Erwin
Hymer
Group North America RV plants after years of being flipped by
foreign
investment firms is yet another example that the economy needs a
new
direction that favours and serves the working people and Canadian
economy.
This article was published in
Number 6 - February 21, 2019
Article Link:
Destruction of
Manufacturing Continues in Ontario
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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