Federal government weighs legal action over Stelco’s layoffs

The federal government is leaving open the possibility of asking a court to intervene in Stelco’s plan to lay off 500 Ontario workers.

In the meantime, it’s still waiting for a response from Stelco to its accusations that the company is betraying workers in Hamilton and Nanticoke.

With up to 500 layoff notices on their way to Stelco workers in Hamilton and Nanticoke, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre stood across Burlington Bay from Stelco today.

“… carry out the lawsuit 5 a.m. Monday morning,” said Poilievre.

He is demanding the government ask a judge to block the layoffs.

“We want the government to launch the lawsuit 5 a.m. on Monday morning. Remedies can include: reinstating the workforce, getting the production back up and running, or divesting to a Canadian owner that would restart operations here at home. The only thing that we would accept is these workers getting their paychecks making Canadian steel to build our country,” said Poilievre.

“Hamilton steelworkers have been betrayed by their American owners,” said MP John-Paul Danko.

The Liberal government MP from Hamilton, says anything could happen including court action against Stelco owners Cleveland-Cliffs.

“Canada will use every measure necessary to hold Cleveland-Cliffs accountable for their actions,” added Danko.

Stelco blames the layoffs on tariffs and a lack of orders for steel, despite its promise to protect jobs when it bought the company two years ago.

But the head of Stelco says laid-off workers will be called back if Canada reaches a trade agreement in its negotiations with the U.S.

Danko says there’s already a Canada-U.S. agreement and Canada will fight for it.

“When the owner of Cleveland-Cliffs or the CEO or anyone else, including the leader of the opposition, says that we need to get back and have an agreement, the official position is we already have an agreement right now that’s in place that protects free markets across North America. Every option is on the table including court action,” said Danko.

In a televised Cable 14 debate, candidates for mayor of Hamilton were debating how the city should respond to the Stelco layoffs. 

“It really is about making sure that we can help them financially. These workers shouldn’t suffer when a company walks away after making a commitment, not only to the workers, but to the people of our country,” said Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath.

“We don’t even have local procurement policies,” said candidate Rob Cooper.

“… and I have put forward a tariff response plan that we will be implementing where we prefer local and domestic, where we lead the national buy-Canadian movement,” added candidate Keanin Loomis.

The Steelworkers union says the notices are expected to arrive over the next couple of weeks. 

The federal government’s deadline for Stelco to outline how it’s going to fulfill its job guarantees is next Tuesday.