Canada’s largest cheese manufacturer has shuttered the first of three factories slated for closure in a bid to cut costs and boost efficiency.
Thursday marked the last day at work for 100 people at the Saputo Inc. plant in Sydney, N.S. They are the first round of casualties in the company’s rollback plan. Plant closures in Princeville, Que., and Ottawa are expected in August of this year and December, 2017, respectively.
The move announced in March is expected to save the dairy giant $9 million annually by fiscal 2019. The company announced plans to invest a further $32 million in other plant locaitons over the next two years.
But for some employees in Sydney, the cuts signal a much more uncertain future.
“It's tough. A lot of unknown right now. It's stressful at times,” former Saputo employee Kevin Perfect told CTV Atlantic.
Many workers say they understand cuts are a reality of business, but what’s confusing is they were told the Sydney plant was actually turning a profit.
“They had a Christmas party and tell us we're happy to say we're making money in Sydney. So it put everybody's hopes up. And then people bought vehicles, homes,” said Perfect, who is about to become a father.
In 2014, Montreal-based Saputo bought the then-locally owned dairy from Scotsburn. From then on, employees say they knew the game had changed and the out-of-province owners might not feel as sensitive to the community as their old employers.
“I don't know where everybody is at. Your politicians, government officials. Everyone seems to be asleep at the wheel with this,” says former employee Everett Grant.
“These are good paying jobs with great benefits. It's going to hurt the community.”
With a report from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore
