Unifor says a second Quebec furniture store is closing down and laying off dozens of workers in the span of 24 hours. “Quebec’s furniture manufacturing sector is in jeopardy,” the union declared in a news release on Tuesday. According to Unifor, Bestar, which has a plant in Lac-Mégantic, Que., is shutting down, leaving 120 workers without a job. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening. Unifor calls it “another major blow to Quebec’s manufacturing sector” after South Shore Furniture near Montreal announced Monday it would shut down. The company, which is based in Sainte-Croix, Que. and was first opened in 1940, is laying off 126 workers. “When companies shut down one after another, it’s not a coincidence. It’s the result of an extremely challenging economic environment where businesses are facing deteriorating market access conditions, compounded by growing dumping practices, particularly from Asia,” said Daniel Cloutier, Unifor’s Quebec director, in Tuesday’s news release. Unifor says Canada often ends up being the “fallback market” for low-cost imports as U.S. trade measures redirect global flows and puts the Canadian supply chain at risk. Cloutier is now calling on the Quebec government to meet with key stakeholders to address the issue.
