John Baiton is frustrated and angry and he wants the world to know it. More specifically he want the Canadian government to know it.
“Shame on our gov’t of Canada for their inaction of 325 jobs lost at Henniges Welland. Wasting 300-400 millions of tax $ on an election Canada does not want,” screams a huge sign Baiton posted at the Primeway Drive and Woodlawn Road intersection in Welland Thursday night.
Baiton, a Henniges employee, wanted to deliver a message to local politicians that they need to “address the true issues and the plight of the people” and roughly 30 co-workers rallied to the sign after the day shift ended Friday to show their support.
"I was amazed that so many people from work would come out on such a very short notice,” he says. “Their feelings are pretty much the same. Every person can have a bias to any one party, and everybody is entitled to their opinion. I’m not here to down or upgrade any party or political belief. It’s just a fact that nothing is getting done to help working people in Canada.”
Henniges employees were told March 1st that production at the plant, which supplies parts to other automotive companies, would be shut down by the end of 2011. Baiton has worked at Henniges for 29 years (34 years if including previous work at the plant) and when it closes he will have no job and no pension.
"When the plant shuts down we will see some people probably lose their homes. Lose their vehicles. The majority of us will probably find sub-standard paying jobs where we will be scrimping, working long hours to get by and then go into our retirement with no pensions,” he says.
Baiton says he doesn’t “believe any level of government is doing their job to help the working class Canadian”. And he wants that to change.
“I’m frustrated and angry with everything that is going on here in Welland, and with the country in generalWithout a doubt, the most important thing on the government’s agenda has to be the economy and jobs. It has to be.”
He believes that instead of campaigning for “an election Canada does not want” politicians should be working together for the people they are elected to represent.
“I blame all three parties. If their time and efforts were spent working together in the best interest of the working person then maybe it wouldn‘t come down to things like plant closures. We need to create jobs and have incentives for businesses to set up. I don’t have all the answers, but aren’t we paying a lot of money to the people who are suppose to have them?” he asks. “We should all be able to make a reasonable wage for a decent day’s work and it’s not happening here. It’s just not happening.”
Tony Gasperetti, a union representative at Henniges, came out to support Baiton. He says the government is failing the working class.
“Plants should not be allowed to close if they are profitable. And we are profitable. If their profits aren't high enough for them, well that's too bad. It's people's lives we're talking about here."
Gasperetti points out one third of the employees at Henniges are only three to four years away from retirement.
“Now they have to go out at a late age in life and try to be competitive with the young kids nowadays trying to find jobs too. It’s heartbreaking. I have kids that are out there looking for work and I’ve got to compete with my own children now? My heart is not up to doing that.”
Gasperetti is on the bargaining committee that will be meeting with the company next week to work out the details of closing contracts. He says negotiations will likely take weeks, but in the end he doesn’t think the company will give employees anything more than they are legally obligated to.
“How do I expect it to go? They more or less told us that they are going to give us whatever we are entitled to by the law and that's it. We bargained, not even a year ago, with the promise that they were going to keep our place open until 2013, and I guess they changed their plans on us," he says.
“We’re still profitable and I just don’t understand how they are allowed to close. We even gave them concessions three years ago. A lot of people lost their pension; there’s a large list of things we sacrificed with the promise of a future. And this is our future. No future.”
Baiton believes part of the reason Henniges is closing is because of it’s “aging work force”
“There’s a lot of people in the next few years that had pensions coming due to them and they don’t want to pay up. It’s a fact that we made them money, but they feel they can make more money other places.”
Baiton was “absolutely crushed and had trouble sleeping” when Henniges announced its plan to close.
“When you get up in the morning it is the first thing on your mind and each day you’re that much closer to the plant closing. When you’re at work it’s almost like a funeral that won’t end. It’s not a nice feeling.”
Geoff Turton was one of the employees who showed up to support Baiton. He has 18 years at Henniges and also has a message for politicians.
“Do something to save our jobs in Canada. Keep manufacturing jobs here in Canada. All of our jobs are going out of the country. Place after place keeps closing up. John Deere closed up and they moved all the jobs down to Mexico. That didn’t’ work for them, so now they’re moving all the jobs back to the States. It’s very frustrating.”
John Marotta, an employee of Henniges for 28 years agrees.
“We need some leaders that will start addressing this issue because nobody seems to be interested,
” he says.
Baiton feels putting up his sign is something most of the community would support.
"I was venting and it got more attention than I thought it would have. And I guess, in some way, I feel a little better for it,” he smiles, waving as someone drives by and honks his horn.
“Cars come by like that and are honking and supporting us. Probably a majority coming by are Wellanders and they know it’s tough here and they know there’s a serious problem in this country. Welland is getting hit much worse than most. I just wish that our government would truly get on the same page with each other and turn things around. Right now I don’t foresee that.”
For now Baiton thinks he needs to get a penny jar.
“I’ve worked hard all my life and with the way things are happening now, it’s pretty much guaranteed that I’ll be counting my pennies until the day I die.”
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