Thursday, October 20, 2005
at
10:43 p.m.
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Shortly before 3pm today, my father, brother, and more than 500 employees at the Guelph Imperial Tobacco plant were called into the sprawling lunchroom for an announcement. They were told to gather their lunchboxes and their jackets before they came.
Right away you know what kind of an announcement this is going to be. They aren't going to be given time off for good behaviour, there isn't a reward.
Instead, they told them that the Guelph plant, which has been open since 1959, is going to be closed.
Many people reading this will see it as a victory over smoking. True, I'm not a fan of the habit and wish my mother and many others would rid themselves of it completely. On the other hand, this is a company that put a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food on my table. It paid for my education, my entertainment, and for the peace of mind for my family.
For all of those things and more, I will always be grateful to that company.
If there is a silver lining, it is that my father had always planned to retire by the end of next year anyway. This isn't a blow to him and he'll get more than a decent severence package to go along with the tidy pension he's built up. My brother, on the other hand, is 37 with three kids. This announcement is more than a little devastating to him.
If he's smart, he'll pay off every debt he has with what severence they give him next year. That'll help him out a ton in the long run, though in the short term I can't begin to imagine what he'll be going through.
The writing was on the wall, though, with the BC government's decision to allow citizens to bring lawsuits to tobacco companies. It didn't seem farfetched at all for them to pull up stakes while the going was good. After all, the plant in Mexico pays only a sixth of what employee's here in Ontario are getting. Money savings all around.
The frustration with the government's decision isn't solely in the loss of manpower, but in a major industry that supports the back of Canada financially. The loss will be felt keenly in Guelph, but the long term impact has yet to be seen.
The full story is available at the Toronto Star website.
I have faith that my brother will be fine. He's still planning to get married next year, and he's young enough that this shouldn't be too devastating in the long run. Still, what an awful way to end your week. Planning a trip to Cuba to get married, and then finding out you've essentially lost your job.
Right away you know what kind of an announcement this is going to be. They aren't going to be given time off for good behaviour, there isn't a reward.
Instead, they told them that the Guelph plant, which has been open since 1959, is going to be closed.
Many people reading this will see it as a victory over smoking. True, I'm not a fan of the habit and wish my mother and many others would rid themselves of it completely. On the other hand, this is a company that put a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food on my table. It paid for my education, my entertainment, and for the peace of mind for my family.
For all of those things and more, I will always be grateful to that company.
If there is a silver lining, it is that my father had always planned to retire by the end of next year anyway. This isn't a blow to him and he'll get more than a decent severence package to go along with the tidy pension he's built up. My brother, on the other hand, is 37 with three kids. This announcement is more than a little devastating to him.
If he's smart, he'll pay off every debt he has with what severence they give him next year. That'll help him out a ton in the long run, though in the short term I can't begin to imagine what he'll be going through.
The writing was on the wall, though, with the BC government's decision to allow citizens to bring lawsuits to tobacco companies. It didn't seem farfetched at all for them to pull up stakes while the going was good. After all, the plant in Mexico pays only a sixth of what employee's here in Ontario are getting. Money savings all around.
The frustration with the government's decision isn't solely in the loss of manpower, but in a major industry that supports the back of Canada financially. The loss will be felt keenly in Guelph, but the long term impact has yet to be seen.
The full story is available at the Toronto Star website.
I have faith that my brother will be fine. He's still planning to get married next year, and he's young enough that this shouldn't be too devastating in the long run. Still, what an awful way to end your week. Planning a trip to Cuba to get married, and then finding out you've essentially lost your job.
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