2023-11-29 05:00:00
Even though it laid off 150 people on Monday, the Quebec company Lion Électrique has decided to maintain its Christmas party, which will take place in a luxurious reception hall in Laval, according to what The newspaper a appris.
• Read also: “Less than a month before Christmas, it’s hard”: big shock at Lion Électrique which lays off 150 employees
The electric truck and bus manufacturer’s event will be held on December 22 at the Château Royal, which has a room large enough to accommodate more than 1,000 people in a single evening. Employees from all sectors were invited free of charge.
Lion Électrique, which has received more than $300 million in government assistance in recent years, did not respond to our interview requests on this subject during the day on Tuesday.
Returning to Monday’s cuts, they also affected Lion’s plant in Joliet, Illinois. At least thirty people have lost their jobs. In Quebec, more than a hundred employees were fired less than a month before Christmas. Each received a check equivalent to eight weeks’ pay.
In an internal memo to its employees including The newspaper obtained a copy, the president, CEO and founder of Lion Électrique made a surprising statement.
«[…] In recent months, we have implemented a set of targeted cost control measures, wrote Marc Bédard. However, despite the increase in our revenues, deliveries and gross margins during the third quarter, we have to date failed to achieve profitability, which is essential to ensure the sustainability of Lion.
We tried to find out more about the cuts from Labor Relations Committee Chairman Patrick Layette, but he is not authorized to speak to members of the media.
Towards unionization?
Inside the walls of Lion Électrique, discontent has set in among workers in recent months. We spoke to a few workers on condition of anonymity. They denounce in particular the employment conditions and salaries which are not competitive in their industry.
Moreover, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) is in the process of recruiting workers from the Mirabel, Saint-Jérôme and Terrebonne factories.
“When people want to be unionized, it is not a question of salaries or benefits, but of respect,” says the Canadian vice-president of the IAMAW, David Chartrand.
“Lion is dedicated to a bright future in a cutting-edge industry, but we have a CEO (Marc Bédard) who says that his company is constantly growing, but who is cutting 150 jobs.”
In the same vein, the IAMAW announced that it had filed a request for union certification for the 140 employees at the Joliet, Illinois plant three weeks ago.
A few days later, employees of Quebec factories learned that they would have three days of paid leave during the holiday period.
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