Postmedia Network Inc. announced plans to close its London Free Press newspaper printing plant in London, Ontario, which will result in job loss for 135 union members.
“This is a tough, tough day for our London members and their families,” said Paul Morse, President of Unifor Local 87-M, which represents unionized workers at the London Free Press, in a statement following the announcement. “More than half the unionized workforce at the London Free Press is being put out of work.”
Unifor Local 87-M represents 214 employees at the London Free Press among 2,500 media workers across southern Ontario, including the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, and 14 Postmedia newspapers. “We are extremely disappointed with the aggressive cost-cutting at Postmedia,” Morse continued. “We’ve already seen Postmedia cut good-quality jobs by merging newspapers in Ottawa, Edmonton and Calgary.”
According to a report by The Globe and Mail, Postmedia signed a deal with Metroland Media Group, owned by Toronto Star publisher Torstar Corp., to print the London Free Press starting this fall, out of Hamilton.
In January 2016, Torstar announced plans to shutter its Vaughan, Ont., printing plant, just outside of Toronto, affecting 220 full-time employees and 65 part-time staff. TC Transcontinental Inc. of Montreal reached an agreement with Torstar to print its Toronto Star daily newspaper for five years. The contract is expected to take effect in July 2016 and the newspaper is to be printed at Transcontinental’s Vaughan facility.
Read the article published by The Globe and Mail about this plant closure.
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