2023-12-22 20:30:00
After nearly 10 years of legal battle, former employees of the household appliances company MABE, which has been bankrupt since 2014, will finally be able to try to recover their pension funds and other social benefits. The Superior Court grants the request for authorization of class action.
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“The decision rendered this week authorizes the class action. So here, we will finally be able to proceed on the merits of the case. With this decision, we can finally try to recover our pension fund and the social benefits that the company owes us,” says Daniel Cloutier, from the Unifor union, who has been working on this issue for nine years.
“These are our members, we defend the causes of retirees and there is no question of letting anyone down. It will take as long as it takes,” he said.
Michel Morin started working for General Electric (MABE’s parent company) at the age of 18, 40 years ago. At the factory located on the corner of Dickson and Notre-Dame, in Montreal.
“When they announced the closure in 2012, they promised us that if we worked professionally to the end, we would be paid and they would replenish the pension fund deficit and maintain our social benefits and our life insurance, and that we would have this until the end of our lives. But they reneged on their commitment,” laments the man who was the last president of the Montreal factory union.
$67 million and 125 deaths later
The workers are demanding $67 million in total. For approximately 1,500 employees, including former General Electric retirees who were also affected by the bankruptcy. This amount covers missing pensions, social benefits, life insurance… Everything that had been negotiated in good faith in the collective agreement, and that had been promised by the company.
“Since the bankruptcy, 125 workers have died. Their family was not eligible for the $15,000 life insurance. It’s sad. I myself went to get $15,000 in life insurance following the bankruptcy, because I knew we no longer had it, and I didn’t want my loved ones to be left with bills if I died.” , says Michel Morin.
In his case, Michel Morin lost 22% of his pension fund from 2015, or around $600 per month for seven years. “I was 58 when they went bankrupt. In total, they owe me regarding $75,000 just for me,” he said.
The retirees and the union accuse MABE of having created MC Commercial, a separate company, in order to declare bankruptcy, facilitate the transfer of operations to Mexico and avoid their commitments.
“We know very well that it is not a bankruptcy, it is a cat in disguise. They took advantage of their great knowledge of tax laws in Quebec and Canada to not respect their words,” says Daniel Cloutier. They decided to move their production to Mexico, probably because they were saving money. They might have decided to close the factory in a correct way while respecting workers’ rights, but they decided to do it like a bastard,” he adds.
“Our claim remains unchanged from the beginning. The employer is only delaying the inevitable. We are determined to see the end of this matter. We also fight the battle for the heirs of those who have died,” he said.
THE MABE FACTORY IN MONTREAL
1939-45: Canadian government tank factory
1948: General Electric (GE) buys it to make household appliances
1977: Renamed Camco
2008: The factory is sold in 2008 to the Mexican company MABE
2011: Creation of MC Commercial
2012: Announcement of the gradual closure of the factory
2014: MABE Canada closes the factory in August 2014 and declares bankruptcy two weeks later
MABE TODAY
MABE is a Mexican company specializing in the production of household appliances. It has 22,000 employees and its head office is located in Mexico. MABE has a joint venture with the household appliances division of General Electric.
Source: Wikipedia
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