Less than 100 workers still on the job at Diageo in Amherstburg

Diageo facility in Amherstburg, Ont., on Aug. 28, 2025. (Sanjay Maru/CTV News Windsor)

Less than 100 employees remain on the job at Diageo in Amherstburg as the Crown Royal bottling plant is in its final month of operation.

Unifor Local 200 President John D’Agnolo says 98 employees are still working at the plant, but others have either retired or taken other jobs after accepting their severance packages and remaining vacation time as negotiated during bargaining.

D’Agnolo says the workers there continue to work and produce because that’s who they are, but it will be a sad day when it closes for good.

“Let’s face it. A lot of them don’t know what to do; they’re struggling. They’re hoping to find a job, and we’re going to do our damnedest to make sure we can do that for them,” he says. “Right now, it’s just coming to work; it’s surreal in the workplace. There are frustrations, obviously, knowing they won’t have a job.”

The union represented just over 200 employees at the facility at 110 St. Arnaud St. prior to the closure announcement in August 2025.

In December 2025, the union announced that workers at the plant had ratified a closure agreement with Diageo, which planned to close the facility on February 28, 2026.

The company has said the decision is to improve its North American supply chain, with Crown Royal whisky destined for Canada and non-U.S. export markets now being bottled at Diageo’s Valleyfield, Quebec, facility, while whisky bottling for the U.S. market shifts elsewhere.

Diageo has said its Crown Royal products will continue to be mashed, distilled, and aged at its facility in Gimli, Manitoba.

D’Agnolo says the union hopes they can help every one of them get a new job, but some have been moving on as opportunities become available or they’ve retired.

“It’s surreal for some of them, and I said that’s all they know. It’s true, that’s all they know, and they really loved working there. They can’t grasp what’s happening right now,” he says.

Premier Doug Ford hasvowed to remove Crown Royalfrom the LCBO’s shelves after the Amherstburg facility closes, if the company doesn’t present a plan to keep some labour in Ontario.

D’Agnolo says some people say it will hurt us by taking Crown Royal off the LCBO shelves.

“Why don’t you look in those individuals’ eyes who are going to be losing their livelihoods and then say that’s okay? I think they would look at that differently. That’s the bottom line. I’ve been frustrated at times as a president to hear that ‘you know what, it’s only 200 jobs in Amherstburg.’ But you don’t get to see these individuals and what they’re going through,” he says.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has urged Ford not to “shoot ourselves in the foot” to punish Diageo, as the move would impact Canadian workers in his province.