Scheduled Closure of Montreal Steel Plant
Workers Demand That Plant Remain Open
- Normand Chouinard -
Workers at Cable Steel plant in Pointe-Claire on Montreal's west
island are opposing the decision of the owners, the Bridon-Bekaert
Ropes Group (BBRG), subsidiary of Belgium-based Bekaert group, a global
monopoly in steel wire transformation and coating technologies, to
close the plant at the end of May. The Pointe-Claire plant
produces steel wire cables that are used on bridges, in mining
operations, in oil extraction and by Hydro-Quebec. It also has a
contract with the U.S. navy for cables used on aircraft carriers. It
has customers in several countries. A closure of the plant would
directly affect the 105 production workers currently at work and some
20 workers who
have been laid off for over a year. These workers are members of the
Syndicat des travailleurs de Câbles d'acier de Pointe-Claire,
which is affiliated to the Manufacturing Industry's Federation of the
Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN). About 30 office people,
who are not unionized, would also lose their jobs. The closure of the
plant
would be another blow to the manufacturing sector in Quebec that has
lost tens of thousands of jobs in the last fifteen years.
In its statement announcing the closure, Bridon-Bekaert Ropes Group
said that all North American and manufacturing and servicing activities
are going to be centralized in Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania, U.S.) and
Oakland City (Indiana, U.S.). The Group gave all the excuses under the
sun to attempt to justify the closure, -- structural changes in
the industry, the effect of COVID-19 on the economy, improvement of
competitiveness, among others.
 None
of this explains or justifies the decision. It hides the fact that
Canadians do not set the direction of their own economy which has
become integrated into the U.S. economy and war machine. While the
Biden administration will continue to push "Buy American," there are
those in Canada who are pushing to become part of "Buy American" by
integrating the economy further into that of the U.S. such that all
regulations adopted in the U.S. will apply in Canada as well. It also
hides the fact that how to modernize production using the innovations
of the technological and scientific revolution should be human-centred,
not serve narrow private interests which then declare there is no
alternative. Those who own whole parts of the economy are
competing over control of what they call "structural changes," blaming
the closure on this and that as part of the cutthroat competition
between rival private entities which is wrecking people's lives and
their economies. The company's excuses are to present the closure as a fait
accompli. Meanwhile the government of Quebec certainly
does not want any discussion on how to build a self-reliant
industry that would contribute to a stable
economy organized to meet the needs of the people, not of the
global
oligarchs and their aim of narrow private profit at the expense of
everything else.
Workers
are opposing the self-serving justification put forward by the global
owners: "There are 105 families who risk losing their livelihood," said
Patrick Boissé, the Treasurer of the Syndicat des travailleurs
de Câbles d'acier, in a conversation with Workers'
Forum.
"It is a shock and a slap in the face because we kept being told
that
we are a centre of excellence in the production of steel cables.
Our workers have tremendous expertise and experience. We have many
workers who have 40 or more years of service and the plant is also
making money. We are losing economic flagships to the U.S. We may
actually be the only plant left in Quebec that is still producing
steel
cables for Hydro-Quebec. If we close, it may be that only U.S.
plants
will produce these cables for Hydro-Quebec. We cannot let these
things
carry on."
Workers reject the argument that was given to them by local
management that there is no alternative to the owners' decision to
centralize all North American production in U.S. cities because of
the
U.S. government's "Buy American" policy or that Quebec and Canada
should be part of "Buy American." This is not an argument that
workers and people can accept because they reject the integration
of
Canada into the U.S. empire. Quebec and Canadian workers fight for
nation-building in which they are masters of their own affairs.
Workers' Forum supports the stand of the Cable Steel
plant workers that the plant must remain open.
This article was published in
February 24, 2021 - No. 10
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2021/Articles/WO08104.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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