Community still dealing with impact of A.O. Smith plant closure

When one of the town’s largest employers shut down its manufacturing operations in Fergus one year ago, it had a significant impact on the community.

The A.O. Smith (formerly GSW) decision to consolidate residential and light commercial water heater manufacturing into other North American plants, left 350 employees at its Fergus plant without a job.

“All of a sudden there was a meeting at the arena and there were no chairs. Usually if there’s a meeting there’s chairs,” former employee Rob Warden said of the initial announcement last April.

“Everybody just kind of stood up, and the (representatives) came in from A.O. Smith in the States; they said their spiel and that was it.”

A third-generation A.O. Smith employee who spent 34 years with the company, Warden was understandably shocked and upset with the News.

And he wasn’t alone.

More than 100 protestors gathered last June for a rally adjacent to the plant to argue for more pension help from the company.

“It’s terrible, of course the closure announcement stuff has brought anxiety and stress and anger to the employees,” employee Tim Wall said at last year’s rally.

Wall, a 25-year employee and also United Steal Workers local 3989 president, was one of those who retained jobs at the Fergus plant, which continued to operate as A.O. Smith’s central Canadian office as well as its regional distribution centre and as a sales, marketing, finance, customer service, information technology and product engineering facility.

Action centre help

Despite the shock that reverberated throughout the community last year when A.O. Smith shut its doors, former employee Cal MacDonald says it is amazing to see how resilient employees were – and continue to be, as they move forward a year later.

“Some people have really taken this as an opportunity to go out and do something that they’re going to enjoy the rest of their lives and be successful at,” said MacDonald.

“Some have such great attitudes, they lost five dollars an hour and they lost their holidays, but they have a job … and they settle into that and carry on with their lives.”

After 27 years at the factory, MacDonald has worked for the last year as the coordinator of the Future Action Centre on Tower Street in Fergus, which was opened following the plant closure to help laid off employees find other work.

The centre has offered 43 training sessions, including resume writing workshops and tutorials on job search strategies. There were also computer work stations set up at the office and a job board that was constantly updated.

The centre was established as a resource for finding employment, but it also became a space for emotional support, MacDonald says – something that set it apart in the community.

“The difference with an action centre … is that we’re a familiar face,” he said.

“They’ve seen us at work, maybe we know them, maybe not, but when they walk in the door, we’re in the same boat they are. We lost our jobs too.”

Community impact

One year after the plant closure, Centre Wellington Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj said the impact is still felt in the community.

 “I would say the pain has certainly not gone away – or the impact of having such a major industry close down in the community,” she told the Advertiser.

“I think as a community, we still have people who are really struggling. You can’t diminish the impact this has had on families.”

Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott is very familiar with the effects of the loss of 350 jobs – the largest layoff he has witnessed in his riding by one company.

“It has an economic impact on the local economy and not just the households that were impacted,” he said.

The impact can be overlooked 12 months later, which is surprising considering the initial reaction and all the attention last year’s announcement received at the time.

“Initially everyone was hot,  and all over it stating that they would be there to help, right from a personal phone call from Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, to ministers Eric Hoskins in economic development and Brad Duguid with training, colleges and universities,” said Ross Zuj.

“They were all reassuring me that things would be put in place to help those affected as a result of this horrible mess.”

She added, “At the beginning there was so much emotion involved with the unions, the owners and in trying to put in support services for the workers …

“When time goes by you wonder how the wounds are and whether they’ve been healing.”

Moving on

For Warden, whose father and grandfather – and even his children – worked at the facility, the shut down as a wake-up call and a chance to start over and do something he loved.

He was lucky enough to be recommended for a position at the Toronto-based company On Wall Solutions, a home renovation business that specializes in interior and exterior organization.

“My friends were always saying I had a neat garage … [so now] I organize people’s junky garages I guess,” Warden said with a laugh.

But he is the first to admit he was lucky. While he has no desire to return to a manufacturing job, he says if the position at On Wall hadn’t opened up, he would have had no choice.

“Like anybody else, it’s really hard to find a job; it takes a lot of time, and I mean a lot of people in a factory don’t really have the line of education that other people would,” he said.

Arnott was among many local officials campaigning for education and training for workers laid off from A.O. Smith, which he called “our economic cornerstone in Fergus for over 100 years.”

Arnott said he has heard “rumours” of employees finding new jobs, including employment at area manufacturers, such as Musashi in Arthur.

“There may have been job opportunities for some of them (and) hopefully some are working at jobs that are better and pay better,” he said.

The struggle

Warden is among those with a job, but for others the transition was not as seamless  or easy, and some found themselves “back at the bottom,” said MacDonald.

Many of those employed at A.O. Smith had been there upwards of 20 years, so they discovered a seemingly  hostile job market,  particularly in the manufacturing industry, where experience does not necessarily transfer between employers.

“It has been for some – a horrible journey,” said Ross-Zuj, noting the experience has been particularly difficult for workers over 50.

“That can be a tough go at that age – to restock your tool kit with other skills.”

MacDonald can certainly attest to that.

“When they got their jobs, you didn’t need a Grade 12 to work in a factory,” he said.

“So now these people who are 50 years old, a lot of times have to get their GED or equivalency … these are people who have run million-dollar machines and suddenly they’re going, ‘You mean I’ve gotta go to high school so I can get a job doing the same thing I’ve been doing for 30 years?’ That’s tough on people.”

In order to prepare for his new job, Warden took advantage of some of the courses offered at the Futures Action Centre, such as the fall assist class, and says he knows many of his coworkers were grateful for the job board postings at the centre.

And for those who may still not have full-time employment, Warden often offers them the opportunity to help with On Wall jobs he’s doing in the community.

Ultimately, Warden says he’s happy with where he’s at one year after the A.O. Smith plant closure.

As an added bonus, he says he has also noticed an improvement in his health – particularly during the summer months, when heat and humidity in many manufacturing facilities can become problematic.

“I don’t miss it one bit, because this time of year it was really hot in there,” he said with a grin.

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