The Communist Party of Canada (Ontario) condemns the recent September 28th Stelco announcement that it would be indefinitely laying off 350 employees at its cold-rolled and coated steel operations at its Hamilton Works plant starting in October, and laying off a further 50+ workers at its pickling operation at its Lake Erie works plant. We stand in solidarity with USW 1005 and 8782 who are fighting the layoffs to protect jobs and domestic production.
These layoffs fly in the face of the 2024 purchasing agreements which required Stelco’s new parent company, Cleveland-Cliffs, to maintain the amount of unionized workers in the country until at least 2029, while also maintaining a certain level of operations. Despite these legally-binding conditions of sale, Cleveland-Cliffs has rebuked appeals for them to uphold their contractual obligations, and are insisting they will move ahead with the layoffs.
In provocative statements issued to the press, Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves further insisted that the only thing that would prevent them from laying off workers at Stelco would be for Canada to reach a negotiated agreement which reinstated free trade with the United States. Given Goncalves significant financial support for Trump’s re-election, and prior praise for US tariffs against Canada, it’s clear that Goncalves is joining in on pressure tactics intended to force a deal which would further cede Canadian sovereignty to the United States and US monopolies.
Workers at Stelco are not ignorant of these connections either, calling the layoffs a “manufactured crisis” being propagated by Goncalves, who USW 1005 President Ron Wells said is using Stelco workers as pawns in the broader trade war to advance Trump’s annexationist agenda. USW 1005 and 8782 have indicated that they plan to fight the layoffs tooth-and-nail, promising rallies and other actions in the near term. Despite these unbelievable pressures on the workers, many of the interviews have been conducted on the picket lines of USW 7135 at National Steel Car who have been on strike for nearly two months, a reflection of the deep commitments USW workers in Hamilton have to solidarity and to fighting back against monopolies manufacturing this crisis.
In addition to the direct breaches of the 2024 sale conditions, these layoffs follow tens of millions in government handouts given to Stelco over years to subsidize its profits at the expense of the Canadian working class. Beyond Stelco, further layoffs have occurred in industries which have received billions in public subsidies, including in the auto sector, which has seen thousands laid off in Ontario despite receiving federal and provincial subsidies and incentives.
In response to the announced layoffs, the Carney government has insisted that it will use every legal avenue it has to enforce the contract terms from the 2024 sale agreement signed with Cleveland-Cliffs. However, as history has shown, including during a similar suit against US Steel, Stelco’s former owner, these actions will — at best — merely hold back the layoffs temporarily, and are often followed by even more public subsidies funnelled to the corporations.
Regardless of how negotiations proceed at Stelco, working people will not benefit from more talks, more subsidies, or better corporate trade deals. The era of our politicians begging at boardroom tables must end.
The steel industry must be taken out of private, foreign, for-profit hands and immediately put under public ownership with full democratic control. Public ownership means the people, not a board of directors in another country, control the profits and direct the industry to meet the needs of people across Canada. This action will prevent the total devastation of the Canadian steel industry. We stand in solidarity with steel workers in Hamilton, auto workers in Brampton, and all other workers fighting to defend jobs and domestic production in Canada.
The Communist Party Demands:
Nationalize the steel industry: The government must take over steel operations in Ontario, including at Stelco. This must be the first step toward creating a publicly owned and democratically controlled steel industry.
Enact plant closure legislation with teeth: Immediately pass legislation requiring corporations to justify any closure or mass layoff before a public tribunal with the power to prohibit the closure and impose severe penalties, including jail time for executives and full repayment of every dollar of public subsidy received.
Build a Canadian car and expand mass transit: A publicly owned auto sector should produce an affordable electric Canadian passenger vehicle using Canadian steel, and rapidly expand manufacturing capacity for municipal and inter-urban public transit, such as buses and light rail, facilitating a genuine just, green transition.
Expand Employment Insurance now: Raise EI benefits to 90% of previous earnings for the full duration of unemployment to protect all workers from the crises of capitalism.
Withdraw from USMCA, NATO, and NORAD: End the “free trade” deals that sacrifice our jobs and sovereignty. Pursue multilateral, mutually beneficial trade with the world. Get out of aggressive military alliances and adopt an independent foreign policy of peace and disarmament, redirecting the billions wasted on militarization to social needs such as health, housing and education.
