The planned layoffs of 1,000 workers at Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie is an embarrassment to the federal government, according to the United Steelworkers (USW) National Director, Marty Warren.
Canada’s steel industry has been shouldering the impact of U.S. president Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian Steel exports. Warren said job losses were expected but measures should have been taken to mitigate the devastation for Canadian families.
Algoma Steel issued 1,000 layoff notices on Monday which will become effective on March 23 next year. Workforce adjustment was expected as the steel plant shifted from coke oven steel production to using electric arc furnaces. The company was speeding up this transition in the face of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
This year, the federal government and the Ontario government provided a combined $500 million to Algoma Steel to support its electric arc furnace transition. Warren and other members of the USW union say these funds should have been used to mitigate the job losses experienced by the community.
“We’re now seeing the devastating human costs of this secretive process which excludes the people who are most affected,” Warren said. “More than 1,000 workers, their families and the entire Sault Ste. Marie community are facing life-changing upheaval during the holiday season.”
Algoma steel is Sault Ste. Marie’s largest employers with about 2,700 people working at its main plant in the city.
Warren highlighted that the Algoma Steel layoffs demonstrate the importance of including workers’ voices in the decision making process when it comes to responding to the trade dispute.
“This must be a lesson that we never forget: when governments sign agreements to support industry, they must ensure transparent commitments to job security and job growth,” Warren said.
With such a high amount of public funding, Warren said Algoma Steel should have been able to avoid such deep job cuts. Warren emphasized that public funding should go towards supports for workers, not loans to companies.
“We have asked, time and time again, for enhanced Employment Insurance, retraining and transition income supports, securing our borders from unfair trade and real enforcement of Buy-Canadian policies to keep our mills running,” Warren said.“The federal government’s measures announced to date are steps in the right direction, but the response clearly has not matched the scale of this crisis, and more jobs and communities are at risk.”
Moving forward, Warren said companies must adopt a more transparent approach to how it uses public funds to respond to pressures from the trade dispute with the U.S.
“After accepting nearly $1 billion in public funding, it’s a disgrace for Algoma Steel to announce layoffs of this scale at this particular time and with such a sense of impunity, free of any responsibility or accountability to its workers and the community.”
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