Just days after ending a bitter strike, National Steel Car workers now face the spectre of layoffs.
The rail car maker said today it will cut up to 600 workers — its entire active workforce — over the coming weeks as it reaches the end of its existing order book.
The layoff could be relatively short, however, if National Steel Car is successful in landing a sizeable new order.
“It’s a significant order and we’re certainly aggressively pursuing it,” said Steel Car spokesperson Peter Earle. “If we are successful, it would allow us to ramp back up again in September.”
Though the company was hesitant to say how long the layoff could last, union leader Steve Weller was optimistic it would be brief.
“We’re all hoping the new business will come through,” he said.
Workers at the Kenilworth Avenue North plant hit the picket line in early April after the company sought changes in seniority rights and a 25 per cent rollback in hourly wages and benefits.
The strike lasted three months, with employees eventually voting for a contract that called for no monetary concessions but established a longer grace period before new workers receive union wages.
At the time, some workers worried that given the state of the rail car industry, they may be walking out of a strike and into a layoff.
Rail car manufacturers have been badly hit by the economic downturn, as orders for rail cars sag with declining freight loads.
About 20,000 new cars are projected to be built in 2009, down from a market peak of 70,000 cars, Steel Car says.
Steel Car has about 760 workers already laid off. The overall workforce at has shrunk from about 2,400 employees in 2006.

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