Roxul lay-offs increase ranks of the unemployed

By Michael Wirischagin

The ranks of the unemployed in Grand Forks grew again this week as 19 people were laid off by Roxul Inc. Blaming seasonal shifts in business and high inventories, Roxul said that they are not sure how long the layoffs will last.

 

According to Roxul Inc.’s North American Government Affairs and Corporate Communication Manager Leslie McLaren these layoffs were effective on Monday, Jan. 31.

 

In a statement issued to the Boundary Sentinel, McLaren wrote, “Recently Roxul was put in the difficult position of deciding to lay off 19 employees. The layoffs are due to seasonal fluctuations in our business and in combinations with very high inventory levels.”

 

She further mentioned, “Roxul had applied for a work share program through Service Canada to avoid the layoffs, however our application was not approved. We appreciate the support the Union gave to the work share applications.”

 

Roxul experienced a similar fluctuation a couple of years ago and was successful in being approved for the work share program. Work share tops up wages for employees who voluntarily cut back their hours to share with others instead of the normal layoff process.

 

The measure provides income support to employees eligible for employment insurance benefits who work a temporarily reduced work-week. In a layoff employees will be eligible for employment insurance depending on their length of work in the previous year, whereas in the work share, employees would continue working with reduced hours and receive EI as a top up to their loss of work.

 

McLaren said that Roxul’s goal is to have all of their employees back to work as soon as possible and that they are “not anticipating any additional layoffs in the near future.” But McLaren would not speculate on an actual date of return to work.

 

McLaren also put to rest the rumours that somehow the current Grand Forks plant upgrades and the layoffs are linked.

 

“These are two completely separate occurrences, one does not relate to the other,” she said. 

United Steelworks Union representative Bruce Gardener was unavailable for comment at the time this went to press.