General Electric Peterborough plant to cease most manufacturing by September 2018
General Electric Peterborough plant to cease most manufacturing by September 2018
An employees enters the Monaghan Rd. entrance at GE Canada on Tuesday January 17, 2017 in Peterborough, Ont. Canadian General Electric has cut 150 jobs at its Peterborough facility. Clifford Skarstedt/Peterborough Examiner/Postmedia Network
The General Electric Peterborough plant will shut down manufacturing by September of 2018, the company announced Friday morning.
Workers were informed of the decision at a meeting Friday morning at the Park Street plant, which has operated for 125 years.
“It will be a difficult time for many residents who are connected with GE or who have historical ties to this company,” Mayor Daryl Bennett stated.
In its heyday in the 1960s, the plant employed as many as 6,000 people.
About 358 current workers in the motors division will be losing their jobs, company vice-president of communications Kim Warburton told The Examiner.
“it’s a tough day for our employees, We’re going to help them with the transition,” Warburton said.
The decision was made because production volume in the plant has been down 60 per cent in the past few years, Warburton said, citing global market conditions.
“There’s just not a market for what we are producing,” Warburton said.
The closure also does not affect workers in the nuclear division of the site — the GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada division was sold off a year ago and now operates as BWXT Nuclear Energy Canada. BWXT is the former Babcock and Wilcox Canada, which is based in Cambridge, Ont. It has a long-term lease for the nuclear operations at the site.
Hopes were high of new work for the motors division a few years ago.In 2014, GE announced it would be adding up to 250 new jobs in Peterborough to build motors for the TransCanada Energy East pipeline, which has been delayed through the application process.
A new environment review was called for Energy East and hearings are soon to begin.
Instead, GE has been reducing the size of its workforce in Peterborough over the last several years through a series of layoffs since then.
On Wednesday, the National Energy Board announced it will, for the first time, consider the public interest impact of upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions from potential increased production and consumption of oil resulting from the Energy East project.
General Electric’s Friday announcement in Peterborough begins a 12-month transition period for the affected workers, Warburton said.
They will be offered skills training, retirement planning and family counselling during that transition, she said.
“We are going to be working hard with them,” Warburton said.
MAYOR’S STATEMENT ON GENERAL ELECTRIC PETERBOROUGH CLOSURE
Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett issued the following statement Friday morning on the plant closure:
“My immediate concern is for the workers and the families in our community affected by this winding down of General Electric’s operations in Peterborough. It will be a difficult time for many residents who are connected with GE or who have historical ties to this company. This year marked the 125th anniversary of GE in Canada, starting here in Peterborough in 1892.
“The winding down of GE in Peterborough is a business decision that’s directly related to the slow down in orders from the oil and gas industry. It’s a drastic reversal from 2014 when GE announced that it would be adding up to 250 new jobs in Peterborough to build motors for the TransCanada Energy East pipeline, which has been delayed through the application process. Instead, GE has had to reduce the size of its workforce in Peterborough over the last several years. I understand it currently employs about 358 workers, well down from the 6,000 people employed by GE in Peterborough in the 1960s.
“We are looking forward to the continued presence of BWXT Nuclear Energy Canada, which purchased GE’s nuclear energy business last year.
“In the coming days, I will be requesting a meeting with both our MP and our MPP to discuss how our governments can assist with securing our community’s long-term economic foundation.
“Over the years, we have asked for assistance and approvals for employment land growth, the Via Rail proposal for a new High Frequency Rail service through Peterborough, and local transportation network improvements needed to support growth. We need to continue to diversify our economy and to build the infrastructure that supports job creation.”
More details to come.