Layoffs in Sainte-Thérèse | Paccar hits the brakes

The slowdown in truck sales at the giant Paccar did not take long to have repercussions in Quebec: nearly 100 people will be laid off in the coming weeks at the Sainte-Thérèse plant in the Laurentians, was able to confirm The Press.

This reduction in staff, which comes a little over two months before the expiry of the collective agreement for some 1,600 union members at the location, mainly concerns the evening shift, which restarted last year.

“Nearly 90% of our production goes to the United States,” explains Patrick Laroche, vice-president of the local Unifor, the union that represents the workers at the plant. “Sales are lower at the moment. It’s a drop in production.”

Paccar’s Quebec plant assembles medium-duty trucks (classes 5, 6 and 7) of the Peterbilt and Kenworth brands, which belong to the multinational.

According to Mr. Laroche, Unifor has some 1,600 members in the plant.

Based in Washington State, United States, the multinational did not want to confirm the slowdown.

“We do not comment on personnel matters,” spokesman Ken Hastings said in an emailed statement.

We were therefore unable to determine whether evening production could eventually cease at Paccar’s Quebec plant due to the slowdown in demand. Mr. Laroche says that would not be the case.

Down

This return to evening production had allowed daily truck production to increase to around 90 units. A decline is expected over the coming months.

When it presented its second quarter results on July 23, Paccar had tempered expectations regarding demand for its products.

The American manufacturer expects to deliver between 240,000 and 280,000 trucks this year, which is 20,000 units less than its forecast last January.

This is also below its 290,000 deliveries recorded in 2023.

Even so, after the first six months of the year, Paccar had delivered 58,200 trucks to the United States and Canada, which is a 9% increase over the same period in 2023. Everything indicates that it is the second half of the year that is shaping up to be more difficult.

Decisive months

The collective agreement for employees of the Sainte-Thérèse complex expires on November 30. Relations between Paccar and its Quebec employees have always been special.

There has been more than one labour dispute in Sainte-Thérèse. The most recent lockout was in 2019, when the employment contract expired.

According to Mr. Laroche, talks between Unifor and the employer have begun, but they are in their infancy.

“I’ve been at Paccar for over 20 years and there’s always been a lockout every five years,” said Laroche. “We’re still hoping not to go there this time.”