Wescast Industries, a Tier 1 automotive provider of exhaust manifolds, has knowledgeable Unifor of its intention to shut its foundry in Wingham, Ont., the place it has operated for greater than 120 years, the union stated Might 29.

Unifor stated the closure will devastate staff, households and the neighborhood of Wingham, about 190 kilometres northwest of Toronto. About 250 members of Unifor Native 4207 work on the facility.

“Wescast and its abroad homeowners are turning their backs on the foundry’s devoted workforce and the neighborhood that has supported them for generations,” Unifor Nationwide President Lana Payne stated. “The Wingham foundry closure announcement should function a wake-up name to each degree of presidency that Wingham auto components staff urgently want assist.”

The Wescast Industries foundry in Wingham has been working since 1902 and primarily manufactures exhaust manifolds for automakers akin to Ford, Basic Motors, and Volvo. Wescast was acquired by China’s Sichuan Bohong Co. Ltd. in 2013.

The corporate has not offered the union with a timeline for the deliberate closure. However Unifor maintains that abroad sourcing of the castings violates program dedication ensures within the collective settlement and is the topic of a previous grievance filed by the union earlier this yr.

Since Wescast was acquired by Bohong, the union stated it has repeatedly expressed considerations to administration concerning “the corporate’s lack of funding in fundamental upkeep of the historic facility.”

The collective settlement between Unifor Native 4207 and Wescast is ready to run out this yr and the events are within the strategy of coming into negotiations. Unifor stated there at present is not any change to the timeline for bargaining.

“Wingham can’t afford to lose a whole bunch of excellent jobs and neither can the business,” stated Naureen Rizvi, Unifor Ontario regional director. “Sustaining these jobs and the footprint of our auto components provide chain is essential to sustaining the expert workforce and industrial capability wanted for the transition to electrical car manufacturing.”

Automotive Information Canada has reached out to the corporate for remark.

Unifor has been urgent the federal and provincial governments to undertake a technique designed to protect auto components jobs because the business shifts towards electrical automobiles.

The union has stated that hundreds of jobs are in danger as elements akin to exhaust methods and gasoline tanks aren’t required in EVs.