'This outcome will set an important precedent for future disputes'
An arbitrator has ordered an Ontario employer to pay roughly $15 million in severance and termination compensation to nearly 200 former employees.
The arbitrator found that Wescast Industries – an exhaust manifold casting manufacturer – violated both its collective agreement obligations and Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, putting an end to a nearly two-year dispute between the employer and Unifor.
According to the union, the award includes interest penalties and will be distributed to affected employees who were not provided with their full severance and termination entitlements following the plant’s closure.
"This outcome will set an important precedent for future disputes and send a strong message to any employer that tries to circumvent our collective agreements or labour laws,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.
Wescast ceased operations at its Wingham, Ont. plant in 2023 after Bohong Industries decided to close the facility. The plant produced vehicle engine manifolds for automakers such as Ford, GM and Volvo.
“We have it in our collective agreement that if they take our work and move it to China, which they did, we get an enhanced severance. They’re not paying the enhanced severance. They aren’t paying any severance and they refuse to talk to us,” said Terry Brighton, who was laid off from Wescast, in a previous CTV News report.
Previously, Niagara Health agreed to pay thousands of hospital workers a total of $20 million after decades of negotiations, according to a CBC report.
Also, after nearly a decade of legal wrangling, the federal government reached an out-of-court settlement to compensate non-unionized and casual federal employees affected by the long-standing issues of the Phoenix pay system.
