Weakened by the end of Publisac, TC Transcontinental will close its Saint-Hyacinthe printing plant next April. Nearly 200 people will lose their jobs within two months.
This is what the company announced in a press release at the very end of the day on Thursday. The news had been confirmed to employees a few hours before, during a meeting held with management.
Over the coming weeks, TC Transcontinental says it will “gradually reduce activities” at its printing plant until it completely closes in April. Operations will then be “gradually transferred to other factories in the network” of the company, namely mainly that of the Anjou district, in Montreal.
Some 190 employees will lose their jobs. “We will ensure that everyone is treated with respect and will offer them support in their career transition, while pursuing relocation opportunities,” assured Senior Vice President Retail, Newspapers, Distribution, Magazines, Books and Catalogs, Pierre Deslongchamps, in a press release.
According to our information, some employees could be relocated elsewhere, but it is still unknown how many. Discussions will begin on this subject on Friday. The vast majority of affected employees have negotiated a severance agreement with the employer in recent weeks.
According to Mr. Deslongchamps, this announcement was inevitable “with the end of Publisac announced on November 3 and its gradual replacement” by raddar, the new advertising leaflet “folded in four” using less paper, which is printed in Anjou and distributed by Canada Post.
“It is with regret that we had to make the decision. […] Closing a factory that we have operated since its acquisition in 1979 is a difficult decision, and we sincerely thank our employees yesterday and today who have formed a solid team of collaborators,” persisted Mr. Deslongchamps.
Troubled period
In recent months, the end of Publisac has created a lot of concern in the local newspaper industry, which has lost its means of distribution.
On the island of Montreal, the case of Metro Journalwhich closed its doors in August, hit the headlines when the president and general manager of Métro Média, Andrew Mulé, said he “received a particularly devastating blow” at the time of the end of Publisac, pointing the finger at the regulations of the Plante administration limiting the distribution of printed advertising.
“I am sorry for the decision that was taken by Métro Média, but obviously, I cannot take responsibility for something that goes beyond the simple distribution system,” the mayor then replied.
Less than two months ago, last December, TC Transcontinental also announced the closure of its recycling plant in Montreal, three years after acquiring it.
In total, 31 employees lost their jobs and another was relocated within the company. In addition to closing the Montreal plant, the company also announced that it would close a packaging plant in Wisconsin in February. More recently, at the end of January, a subsidiary of the company, Interweb, eliminated around ten positions in Boucherville.
For some time now, the printer has been warning that it will be necessary to tighten its belt, at a time when demand for its products is under pressure. TC Transcontinental intends to undertake an “ambitious” cost reduction program in order to find between 20 million and 40 million in recurring savings over a period of two years.
Ultimately, the group also hopes to make 100 million from the sale of assets and buildings, in order to offset the rise in the cost of living which is weighing on demand in the packaging segment and the decline in the packaging sector. impression. A factory which was used to print the daily newspapers of the National Independent Information Cooperative (CN2i), for example, has already been sold at a cost of 12 million.
With The Canadian Press