Art Lacroix, president of the Schneider
Office Employees' Association (SOEA), says there will
be a call for nominations at a meeting next week and
an election would be held immediately if one is necessary.
The five information technology employees,
including Lacroix, were notified Nov. 26 that they
would be out of a job at the end of the year. Lacroix,
who has been on sick leave for three months, says
he will be terminated as soon as he returns to work.
"We were the last group that hadn't been moved
or downsized" since Maple Leaf Foods took over
Schneider Foods in 2004, says Lacroix.
The membership will have to choose a new president,
vice-president, treasurer and secretary. Their terms
will start effective Jan. 1.
The SOEA's membership numbered 170 when the facility
was Schneider's head office. It will now represent
60 employees in engineering, finance, inventory control,
distribution and the art department. The IT department
will be left with only one full-time employee.
Lacroix says the laid-off workers
can apply for other jobs at the company's plant in
Mississauga. But he adds that "job prospects
look good in the Kitchener area."