“When they gave that notice, you immediately knew something was up because I’ve never in my life received a notice written like that,” he explained. “So we pretty much knew it was going to be something big.” The announcement came at 11:00 a.m., and the 190 workers in the union, as well as wage earners and management positions, will be furloughed and the plant closed. “It’s a blow for us. I mean, like I say, we put our heart and soul into this place,” Beaumont told CTV News London. Beaumont said the company told workers the move was to create greater efficiencies by moving production to Michigan. The company had just hired over 100 employees in 2019 after winning a contract to build seats for the Ford F-150. Deb Gilvesy was sworn in as Tillsonburg’s mayor Tuesday night, but he’s disappointed by the announcement. “We as a city, our first and foremost concern is to help and assist those 200-plus people and connect them to the local job market,” Gilvesy said. Beaumont won’t be one of those looking for a new job, telling CTV News London, “I’ve been looking at the pension. I’m lucky to be at an age where I can and it’s not going to hit me. You know so much success compared to some of them over there, so I feel sorry for them.’ Gilvesy said the city is already looking at how to help those affected make the transition to new jobs. “If there’s any hope on the horizon, it’s that there are a lot of jobs available right now in Tillsonburg manufacturing,” Gilvesy said. “They can turn to the city’s economic development officer who has already started to set things in motion to help with the job search.” Adient told workers that severance payments would be made within 14 days in accordance with their collective bargaining agreement. However, a clause in the contract that would have given workers six months’ notice was not followed, which is painful for workers so close to the holidays. “I think they should have had the decency to give us a lot more time … to soak it in and prepare for it,” Beaumont said. Adient is a global company with more than 150,000 employees in 33 countries around the world, according to the company’s website.
