Earlier this year Oshawa, ON, Del Monte shuttered the doors to the local factory. Seventy-one workers at the Oshawa Del Monte factory were terminated without notice or severance pay
Prior to the closure, these workers were on the picket line fighting for a livable wage above poverty line and other basic compensations. Three weeks into the strike, Del Monte announced the factory
was shutting down and stated it was due to the economic impact of the strike.
But since Del Monte used a third-party temporary staffing agency, Premier, to hire these 71 workers, the company was able to subvert Ontario employment laws by simply cancelling their temp agency
contract.
“That’s a massive loophole that was exploited in this situation which made it so that Premier didn’t have to give any kind of termination or severance pay to these workers and especially to workers
who had been there for five years and who are entitled to severance pay,” said Navjeet Sidhu, international director at Unifor.
“In this situation, it was really gaps in the Employment Standards Act. Whenever an employer terminates a contract, it really gives zero protection for the workers because they have very little recourse
in that situation. It’s a constant issue for workers,” Sidhu added.
In the event that a worker is terminated because of economic loss or discontinuation of business because of a strike, they are not entitled to notice of termination or severance pay according to Ontario’
s Employment Standards Act (ESA).
“Essentially again, they’re blaming the workers who were not asking for $40 an hour increases. You know, they were asking for a very modest increase from $16 to $20, and they even brought that
demand down to $18. And still, Premier just came back with a very insulting five cent increase offer to their wages,” said Sidhu.
