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Layoffs rock Cape Breton

SYDNEY, N.S. — Steelworkers, com-
munity activists and both opposition parties
reacted bitterly to the announcement by the
provincially-owned Sysco steel plant of its
intention to lay off at least 750 workers in
June. They also accused the provincial
Buchanan government of “cynical indiffer-
ence” to the plight of the dislocated workers
and to industrial Cape Breton as a whole.

According to the Jan. 20 statement by
Sysco management, the open-hearth style
blast furnace is to be closed permanently in
June. Following a two-month shutdown to
completely modernize the plant this
summer, only 700 workers will be required
to operate the new universal “‘mini-mill,”

WPC rephere

_ World Peace Council representa-
tive Rob Prince will talk on current
strategies and activities of the peace
movement at a public meeting in
Vancouver Feb. 14, the B.C. Peace
council has announced.

Prince, the North American mem-
ber on the Helsinki-based council, will
speak at 7:30 p.m. in the Chalmers
United Church, 12th Avenue and
Hemlock Street.

He is currently on a tour of North
American cities, including centres
along the U.S. west coast. He will
arrive in Vancouver from Eugene,
Ore., where he will participate in the
International Conference of Nuclear
Free Zone Local Authorities.

Prince is visiting Vancouver to aid
in preparations for the World Peace
Council disarmament commission’s
annual meeting April 19-22. A discus-
sion between some 20-30 interna-
tional peace activists and local peace
workers on militarization of the
Pacific Ocean is set for April 20.

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less than half of the present workforce of
1,450. (Ironically, the blast furnace slated
for closure was completely rebuilt only a
few years ago at a capital cost of $40 mil-
lion.)

United Steelworkers Local 1064 presi-
dent John Callaghan denounced the
layoff and disputed company claims over
the precise number of lost jobs. “The figure
could go as high as 900, and with a spinoff
ratio of 3-1 the (job losses) are going to be
devastating for the island,” he said. “We feel
there is a conspiracy to destroy Sydney
Steel, and I think they are doing a good job
of it.”

Union and municipal officials were
further angered by the provincial govern-
ment’s refusal to implement any special dis-
location or retraining programs for the
laid-off Sysco workers. Premier John
Buchanan added insult to injury last week
when he declared that because unemploy-
ment on Cape Breton island was now down
to 13.5 per cent, the 750 laid-off Sysco
workers should have no trouble finding
other jobs.

Opposition leaders also criticized the
Tory government for withholding “the
truth of the situation” from the Sysco
workers and the public at large prior to the
provincial and federal elections last fall.
NDP leader Alexa McDonough blasted the
“cowardly, deceitful way” that both the
Buchanan government and Sysco man-
agement have handled the issue.

“When people’s jobs and futures — the
lifeblood of a community — are at stake,

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you don’t play political games... you don’t
tell them a tall story right up until the elec-
tions are held, then reveal that the truth is
far worse once you're safely re-elected,”
McDonough said.

The latest announcement of the closure
of the blast furnace is part of the govern-
ment’s long-term strategy to transform
Sysco into a ““commercially viable” opera-
tion with a view to its speedy privatization.
The closing of the coke ovens and the blast
furnace and their replacement with an elect-
ric arc furnace (using only scrap metal) sig-
nals the death of basic iron and steel
production in Sydney. After the $157-
million modernization program is com-
plete, the plant will have been transformed
into a newly-equipped universal mini-mill
with a retrained, sharply reduced work-
force. The province will likely soon move to
write off Sysco’s massive debt, clearing the
way for privatization.

Meanwhile, the federal and provincial
governments have already assumed respon-
sibility for the multi-million dollar clean-up
of Canada’s single most concentrated
environmental nightmare — the Sysco tar
ponds.

Steelworkers have been aware of this
likely privatization scenario for some time.
During the 44-day strike last spring, union
activist and coke oven workers spokesper-
son Don MacPherson made this analysis
public, but it was immediately denied by
management and government officials.

The steelworkers are now faced with a
major challenge. At this late stage, it is
unlikely that the union can succeed in forc-
ing Sysco to cancel its planned closure of the
blast furnace. With the current union con-
tract expiring April 1, the battle lines will
shift to demands that would guarantee the

long-term welfare of affected steelworkers,

issues that were not resolved in the last
strike and settlement.

They include such matters as severance
pay, pension improvement and _ early
retirement, government-assisted bridging
programs for dislocated workers, and full
union successor rights in the event of
transfer of ownership.

The upcoming contract struggle needs to
be combined with a broader political cam-
paign, uniting labour with the community,
directed at demanding immediate action
from the provincial government to create
more permanent full-time jobs in the region.
Buchanan and the Tories must not be
allowed to turn their backs on industrial
Cape Breton in the wake of these devastat-
ing layoffs.

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Pacific Tribune, February 6, 1989 « 11