Mr. Christie, you may make good cookies, but some East Yorkers are disappointed that you’re not making more jobs in the community.
An opportunity for 550 new jobs is apparently lost as the factory’s owner, Mondelez International, has decided against transferring any workers to its East York facility following the closure of its Lakeshore plant in Toronto.
Instead, East York will simply split the majority of production with the Montreal location. And any remaining production will be passed along to other locations across North America.
Stephanie Cass, manager of corporate affairs with Mondelez Canada, said there are always possibilities, but she does not expect any new jobs to be created at the East York facility in the wake of the Lakeshore closure.
“We’re working through a lot of other details and, as we move production, we’ll then determine appropriate staffing needs to support the production at other facilities,” Cass said.
Thomas Chin, an East York resident who is currently unemployed, said he’d hoped that the East York facility would soon hire new workers for the added production responsibilities.
“I’ve been looking for a decent job for a while and I haven’t found anything I can really live on yet. A unionized job would be nice,” Chin said.
The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), representing members of the Lakeshore facility, was unavailable for comment.
The Lakeshore closure is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2013 and Cass said Mondelez Canada is doing what it can to help employees transition smoothly.
I have worked at the lakeshore bakery for 8 years and if anybody should get a job at east york , it should go to the 550 laid off workers first. I don’t think it’s fair to the loyal people that have been working at the lakeshore for 30 ++++ years.