The Diageo Plant in Amherstburg, Ontario, will close in February as part of what the company called an effort to “increase efficiency.”
The installation is one of the Canadian plants that bottles Crown Royal whiskey.
The company said that whiskey will continue to be puree, distilled and aged in Canada, but the measure was an effort to change “a volume of bottling to be closer to its many real consumers of the American crown.”
“Diageo will maintain its important footprint in Canada, even at our Canadian headquarters and warehouse operations in the Metropolitan Area of Toronto and other bottling facilities and distillation in Gimli, Manitoba and Valleyfield, Quebec,” said the statement.
‘Shocking and devastating’
The union that represents plant workers said it will not allow the installation to close without a fight.
The president of Local Unifor 200, John D’A agnolo, described the “shocking and devastating” movement.
“I can guarantee that there were many tears leaving that plant, because it has been a reference point in Amherstburg. It is our biggest employer,” said D’A agnolo, who represents 160 workers in the installation.
“We have to make sure to fight like hell to maintain that plant.”
D’A agnolo said that the workers only learned of the closure on Thursday morning and that there were no previous discussions about the improvement of the site operations.
“They read me a letter saying that it was a commercial decision and that was all.”
D’Agnolo said that the measure is particularly devastating because Unifor has constantly advocated that the work is left in Canada in the middle of the tariff war.
He said he spoke with the plant’s chair to learn more about the decision and if there is any possibility of keeping it open.
The last resort would be to seek monetary support for workers, he said. “But I don’t even want to think about that right now.”
Endulation effects on Amherstburg
Dan Gemus, president of the Amherstburg Chamber of Commerce, said the closure will have a great impact on the community.
“This is the first time that Amherstburg has seen a business as valuable as diageo, the diageo size, which affects as many lives as it does, hits here locally.”
He added that families will probably harden their expenses in the months prior to closing, which will affect local restaurants and small businesses.
Gemus said that small and medium -sized companies are already fighting with the impact of tariffs and increased costs. He also said that he is not sure that the union will succeed in reverse the decision, although he believes that workers have to try.
D’Agnolo said he wants the support of all levels of government to ensure that manufacturing plants remain in Canada.
