A union spokesperson on the Alstom plant stated he is ‘not comfortable’ work on passenger coaches in-built Thunder Bay goes elsewhere
THUNDER BAY — The Alstom plant in Thunder Bay is not the one Northern Ontario facility to profit from the refurbishing of bi-level GO Transit vehicles for Metrolinx.
The province introduced Monday it’s spending $350 million for Crown-owned Ontario Northland to modernize 121 coaches at its store in North Bay.
Earlier this month, the federal government introduced a $500 million contract for Alstom to refurbish 181 models at its Thunder Bay facility.
Justin Roberts, the president of Unifor native 1075, stated all of the practically 1,000 bi-level vehicles used for GO Transit have been manufactured right here.
“I am not comfortable when the work goes [to North Bay] as an alternative of us, however on the similar time, I assume the power there wants to remain open as nicely. I am positive that is why the federal government is spreading the work out.”
Roberts was considerably stunned with the scale of the job awarded to Ontario Northland, saying it is facility is comparatively small, and he isn’t conscious of it taking up “as massive a scale of contracts as we’re.”
He stated he hopes Alstom will get the job of refurbishing a whole lot extra of the bi-level models that may must be up to date sooner or later.
The corporate has stated the contract introduced for Thunder Bay on Jan. 15 will present work for 250 workers till 2030.
Ontario Northland’s contract requires its North Bay remanufacturing and restore centre to equip the rail vehicles with new inside finishings together with seating, flooring, partitions, ceilings, new doorways and HVAC management programs.
The work is equivalent to what will likely be performed on the vehicles coming to Thunder Bay for upgrading.
The vast majority of the labour pressure at each websites is represented by Unifor.
Roberts stated he hasn’t heard if Alstom made a pitch to have all of the vehicles refurbished in Thunder Bay.
The corporate didn’t instantly reply to an inquiry about that from Newswatch.
In an e-mail, a spokesperson for Ontario Northland stated the company has a protracted historical past of partnering with Metrolinx on refurbishment initiatives.
“Most not too long ago, in 2022, Ontario Northland was happy to increase a earlier refurbishment contract to incorporate 56 further bi-level GO prepare coaches.”
Kate Bondett, senior communications supervisor for ON, added “Each Metrolinx and Ontario Northland are companies of the Ontario authorities, with a shared dedication to proceed to reinforce the province’s transportation community.”
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