Irving lays off 83 employees
Posted Apr 28, 2012 07:23:34 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
83 employees were handed pink slips from Irving Shipbuilding Friday, less than one month after the company got a 304-million dollar aid package from the province.
The majority were iron workers, pipefitters, engine fitters and riggers.
One of the laid-off employees tells The Chronicle Herald there is a ton of work to do on the dock, with some work actually behind schedule.
He says there are talks of layoffs every week, and hopes this is just a temporary firing.
An Irving spokesperson calls it business as usual, and says she expects most of the fired workers to be recalled when the next commercial project starts around May 7.
Jamie Vaslet, business agent for local 1 of the CAW/Marine Workers Federation tells the paper it’s part of a cycle that when a ship is completed, layoffs are inevitable – calling it the shipyard way of life.
Liberal leader Stephen McNeil says he’s concerned about a pattern of fewer people working after the province gives companies assistance.
