Thunder Bay Bombardier job losses may be around 300, spokesperson says

Bombardier has announced it is cutting 7,000jobs from its payroll and that includes jobs in Thunder Bay, Ont.

Spokesperson Marc Laforge says nearly 400 jobs will be cut in Ontario. Therewill be job cuts at the Thunder Bay plant connected to the end of the Toronto Rocket Metro Cars contract, which is scheduled to wrap up at end of this year.

Close to 300 jobs could be lost in Thunder Bay.

"Or maybe between 250 and 350, depending on what it is," he told CBC News.

"The scope is pretty large and I cannot give yousomethingmoreprecise."

He noted the layoffs could be reduced if another contract is acquired before the end of the Rocket Cars contract.

While the layoffs are not scheduled to occur for another eight or nine months, some of the workers may be needed for other projects even after the Rocket Cars project wraps up, said Dominic Pasqualino, the union representative for Uniforlocal 1075workers at the Thunder Bay Bombardier plant.

"It depends on the demands on the other lines," he said.

" or example if the LRV demands more people then people maybe be moved from the rocket to the LRV contract."

Currently there are about 1,100 employees working at the Thunder Bay plant.

Most of the 7,000 job losses will be in Canada and Europe and be partly offset by hiring in certain areas, such as its newC-Seriesaircraft program. Worldwide, Bombardier currently has3,450 people working in its C-Series division, a figure the company expects to rise as it ramps up sales and production.

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The company has 64,000 employees globally.The aerospace and rail equipment companysays the job cuts will begin in the coming weeks and be completed by 2017.

The number of jobs affected include:

• 3,200from its transportation division
• 2,500from itsaerostructuresand engineering services division
• 800 from its aerospace product development engineering group
• 500 from its business aircraft unit