After announcing its closure in early March, the Bombardier Labor Adjustment Center in Thunder Bay is receiving funding from the Ontario government and will remain open until October.
The center opened in 2019 to help laid-off workers transition into new jobs or careers.
Such an establishment is necessary, since life at the Alstom plant in Thunder Bay is balanced between the backlash of contracts and layoffs.
Labor Adjustment Center coordinator Tammy Mazerolle says layoffs will begin next week and will extend until July.
Most of these workers will be out of work at Alstom for a period of more than a year, thus exceeding employment insurance benefits, she says.
© Sandra Buckler/Bombardier
Bombardier’s plant in Thunder Bay passed to French giant Alstom in 2020.
Production will resume at the end of the summer with the renovation of 94 double-deck cars, and the construction of 60 light rail bus cars.
Video: The aerial structures of the Eastern REM are of concern to experts (Le Devoir)
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The animal origin of COVID-19 is almost beyond doubt
The animal origin of COVID-19 is almost beyond doubt The hypothesis of the animal origin of the coronavirus is almost beyond doubt. Two remarkable studies show that it was a zoonosis in the live animal market in Wuhan, China that triggered the COVID-19 pandemic. A group of international researchers recently published two studies that prove the hypothesis of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from animals to humans, as suspected from the start. In one of them, we see photos taken on December 3, 2019 by a Chinese citizen worried regarding the treatment of animals: dogs, foxes, rats, badgers, wild boars, weasels and porcupines pile up one by one. above others in unsanitary cages. “We cannot be sure [de l’espèce] the most likely to have been the intermediary for the virus”, specify the authors. One of the researchers of the study had also photographed the place in 2014, this market being already at the time on the radar of epidemiologists as a probable source of zoonosis. In the other study, specialists dissect the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 and believe “strongly” that the virus was indeed transmitted to humans from a bat through an intermediate animal. The scientists managed to trace a direct link between the pandemic and these animals by crossing this visual evidence with the data collected by the Chinese authorities in December 2019 in this market. The first traces of the coronavirus were found mainly around the kiosks where these poorly treated animals were. If we trace the second, third and fourth generations of infected people, all contacts go back to the Wuhan market as the starting point of the contagion. The probability of having this sequence of initial contaminations without the market being the real source of the virus is 1 in 10 million, one of the authors of the study told the American press. “In science, this is considered strong evidence.”
The duty
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NATO-Russia: an unclear red line
NATO-Russia: an unclear red line President Zelensky’s words are increasingly incisive towards the West. “All the Ukrainians who will die from today will also die because of you,” he said on Friday to NATO, which refused to set up a no-fly zone. A decision which aims to avoid any direct military confrontation with Moscow, so as not to expand the war beyond Ukrainian borders. Despite the angry rhetoric of the strongman of kyiv and the ever-increasing civilian casualties, moral suasion exerted on Western countries should not lead to direct military involvement on their part. “The idea that the Allies embark on a direct confrontation with the Russians can only mean war with a nuclear power – which was never tried, even during the Cold War”, underlines Frédéric Mérand, Director of the Center for International Studies and Research at the University of Montreal (CÉRIUM). “Nuclear power is the deterrent par excellence and this deterrent is exerted on the West, notes in turn the former diplomat and professional in residence at the University of Ottawa Ferry de Kerckhove. It wouldn’t take much for NATO to dismantle the Russian tank column near kyiv. But what would Russia’s response be? Putin is dangerous and has no respect for human life. “Where the clashes might occur, it is at the level of the definition that each clan has of what constitutes or does not constitute an implication of the West, notes Frédéric Mérand. “We decided that supporting Ukraine is not the same as declaring war on Russia. But Putin will increasingly defend the idea that supporting Ukraine is the same as attacking Russia. A red line in the NATO-Russia relationship which is therefore porous, constantly redefined and subject to multiple interpretations.
The duty
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The aerial structures of the REM de l’Est concern the experts
The aerial structures of the REM de l’Est are of concern to the experts The committee of experts set up by Québec to ensure the urban integration of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) de l’Est has expressed serious concerns regarding the impact that the future aerial structures, equipped with noise barriers and catenaries, will have on the districts crossed and at the risk of urban fracture that they might create. According to information obtained by Le Devoir, the progress report submitted to the Quebec government by the committee recommends favoring steel pillars rather than poured concrete in order to improve their visual appearance. The committee also warns that a major redevelopment of René-Lévesque Boulevard and that a reduction in automobile traffic on this artery will be necessary. The committee headed by engineer Maud Cohen would not have been able to take cognizance of the final result of the proposals of the designers of the future REM de l’Est. Some elements are not even sufficiently developed for the experts to be able to decide, indicates a source to Le Devoir. The Eastern REM might be a “key element” in the development of eastern Montreal, but its urban integration would still have to be “exemplary”, it is emphasized. The main concern of the committee concerns the aerial portions of the project and the risks of urban fractures, not only in the city center, but also in the eastern section. Remember that the REM de l’Est project, announced in December 2020 at a cost of $10 billion, must connect downtown Montreal to the Pointe-aux-Trembles sector, with an antenna to Cégep Marie-Victorin, in the northeast of the city. The committee, which brings together 15 experts from various fields, was set up by Quebec in May 2021 to calm growing fears regarding the Eastern REM, in addition to supporting CDPQ Infra in developing the guiding principles of the future network. The Eastern REM, which provides for the development of 23 stations over 32 km, must also be submitted to the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement in the coming months.
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We will try to recall all workers, says Ms. Mazerolle.
The plant currently has between 300 and 400 workers, before the new round of layoffs.
© CBC/Nicole Ireland
Dominic Pasqualino is president of Unifor Local 1075, which represents workers at Alstom’s Thunder Bay plant.
We need new contracts, otherwise the hour is serious, explains Dominic Pasqualino, who represents Alstom workers in Thunder Bay. Preparing the plant and the necessary tooling for a new contract takes regarding two years following signing. »
The Thunder Bay plant has a long history of diverse productions. Over the years, ships, planes and skidders (skidders).
Since 1976, the Thunder Bay plant has specialized in the production of public transit vehicles.
