Future of Wescast's Wingham, Ont. facility in jeopardy
The parking lot at Wingham’s Wescast manufacturing facility is fairly empty on Monday, and it could be even emptier in the future.
“The local union here at Wescast was given notice that there would be a lengthy shutdown here at Wescast, sometime shortly. That’s really all we know. No exact timeline or details, as of yet,” explained Joel Sutton, Unifor Local 4207 plant chair at Wescast.
Wescast called the upcoming shutdown of the factory’s foundry — which reports suggest could start as early as August and last anywhere from six to eight months — a temporary shutdown to re-evaluate the business model for making castings of exhaust manifolds and other automotive parts in Wingham.
During the shutdown, parts will be manufactured in Wescast’s plant in Wuhan, China, and then shipped to Wingham for machining. Sutton said the union views the foundry’s “temporary shutdown” as a “plant closure.”
“It seems like they’ve been on a path to force our customers into moving all the work and jobs that happen here to China. They’ve kind of manufactured a situation that’s making it impossible for us to succeed. And, they don’t seem interested in taking on any new business, even though there’s some available to us,” said Sutton.
Joel Sutton, a 26 year-long Wescast employee and Unifor Local 4207 plant chair stands in front of the Wescast manufacturing facility in Wingham, Ont. on May 2023. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)
Wingham’s foundry opened in 1902 making cast iron wood stoves. They transitioned to automotive parts in the 1970s, selling primarily exhaust manifolds to companies like Ford, GM and Volvo. In 2013, Wescast was purchased by Sichuan Bohong of China for $200 million.
Sutton said in the early 2000s, more than 800 people worked for Wescast in Wingham. Today, that number is less than 300.
“This place has put a lot of money into a lot of families, in a lot of communities, for a lot of years. And I think the impact will be widespread throughout the area,” said Sutton, who has worked for Wescast in Wingham for the past 26 years.
Sutton said the shutdown of Wescast’s Wingham foundry will directly impact approximately 175 employees, with another 100 in the machining department, which will, reportedly, stay operational during the foundry’s closure.
But, Sutton fears the foundry’s “temporary shutdown” marks the beginning of the end of Wescast in Wingham.
“I really don’t see it, not the foundry and machining capacities. I hope I’m wrong, but I think they’ll be moving on. If they can capture this work, and make it in their plants in China, I don’t think it’s coming back,” he said.
The union maintains that overseas sourcing of the castings violates program commitment guarantees in the collective agreement and is the subject of a prior grievance filed by the union earlier this year.
Work at Wescast facility in Wingham, Ont. on Aug. 2, 2019, (Scott Miller/CTV News London)
“With a complete failure by management to properly invest in this facility, it's been up to workers to keep this plant running and do more with less," said Sutton. "Wescast has profited from this situation and wants to turn around and reward our hard work and dedication by violating our collective agreement, closing the plant, and moving our work overseas. It's disgusting."
“Wingham can't afford to lose hundreds of good jobs and neither can the industry," added Naureen Rizvi, Unifor Ontario regional director. "Maintaining these jobs and the footprint of our auto parts supply chain is crucial to maintaining the skilled workforce and industrial capacity needed for the transition to electric vehicle manufacturing."
Despite repeated attempts, CTV News London did not receive any official response from Wescast or its parent company Sichuan Bohong in regards to the upcoming changes to Wecast’s operations in Wingham.
According to Unifor, the collective agreement between the union and Wescast is set to expire this year and negotiations were about to begin.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
'Sophisticated' cyberattacks detected on B.C. government networks, premier says
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Canucks beat Oilers 5-4 in comeback to take Game 1
The Vancouver Canucks won the first game of their NHL playoffs series with the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 on Wednesday night coming back from a three-goal deficit.
Nijjar murder suspect says he had Canadian study permit in immigration firm's video
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.