Tuesday June 26, 2019
For Immediate Release
Montréal, QC – Montréal-based Bombardier Inc. has signed a deal to sell its CRJ regional jet program to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited for $550 million US. The deal stipulates that the Japanese manufacturer take over the maintenance, support, refurbishment, marketing and sales activities for the je3ts, including services and support facilities in Montréal, Toronto, Bridgeport, West Virginia and Tucson, Arizona.
“It’s the end of an era and it’s extremely unfortunate,” said IAM Québec Coordinator David Chartrand. “We are certainly asking for a meeting with Mitsubishi to see if they intend to become more involved in the Québec aerospace ecosystem.”
This is news that could have an impact on the entire Québec aerospace industry. This is why the IAM intends both to work to relocate the workers who will be affected, in this case some 240 members who are working on the CRJ program. “Our main concern is finding answers to our questions and working to limit the damage to our affected members,” explained IAM Local Lodge 712 President Yves Paiement. “We will first work to relocate jobs at Bombardier.”
Of great importance to these affected workers is the reciprocal agreement negotiated by the IAM to install bridges between Bombardier and Airbus. “Our members working on the CRJ who cannot be relocated to Bombardier will probably be relocated to Airbus Canada thanks to the reciprocity agreement we put in place in 2018,” explained IAM District Lodge 11 Business Representative Eric Rancourt who is responsible for the Bombardier Unit.
“There is a back order of forty aircraft in the system and that means about 18 months of work,” explained Chartrand. “I have had the opportunity to briefly discuss with the Minister of the Economy. Pierre Fitzgibbon, and we hope to work with him to try and attract Mitsubishi to Québec.”
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For further information:
David Chartrand – IAM Québec Coordinator
514-956-1578/514-231-9100
Bill Trbovich – IAM Director of Communications for Canada
416-386-1789 Ext #31/416-735-9765
