Layoffs loom as Region of Queens to close recycling depot
The Region of Queens is closing its recycling facility, which will result in job losses. (Nick Fewings via Unsplash)
UPDATED AT 3 p.m. Wednesday
Employees at the Region of Queens materials recovery facility will be laid off when the depot closes on Dec. 1.
The region said in a news release late Tuesday afternoon that the layoffs and closure are because of provincial changes to how recyclables are handled. The region’s solid waste facility employs 13 people, but the release did not say how many employees are affected.
Mayor Scott Christian told QCCR on Wednesday that eight employees work at the recycling facility. But he said the municipality will try to move them or retrain them for other available positions with the region.
“The first step is to try to retain staff if that’s possible to keep people in the organization and if they can’t be kept then to lay them off. And then whatever is contained legally in the bargaining agreement, we’d go from there,” he said.
“It sucks, it sucks. It’s challenging times, life is tricky to afford and there’s not a lot of good paying jobs in the community. It’s certainly not a decision that we made lightly.”
Christian said waste collection won’t change in the municipality. Collection dates or methods won’t be affected. The solid waste management facility will remain open. This change affects only who sorts the recyclable material.
In August 2023, the Nova Scotia government amended the Environmental Act to make recycling packaging and paper the responsibility of the producer, otherwise known as extended producer responsibility.
“No impact to the resident experience, it’s just that now with the extended producer responsibility … the producers of the packaging waste are responsible for figuring out what’s happening to that waste,” Christian said.
“It’s now the responsibility of the Jeff Bezos and the Walmarts of the world to deal with their own packaging.”
Circular Materials is a company formed by corporations that produce packaging waste, such as Loblaw, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and others.
Christian said that company also offered to collect the recyclables, but the region opted out of that.
Jim Sponagle, business manager for Local 1928 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, told QCCR on Tuesday that he found out about the job losses from a member of the local who works at the facility.
“The Region of Queens at no point contacted the union to advise the union what their intention was. Very disappointing,” he said in an interview.
“(We’ve) completely been blindsided by it. No discussion with the union, no conversation, we were completely in the dark.”
He said relations between the region and the union have not improved since a week-long strike in January, when almost 40 engineering and public works employees walked off the job for higher wages and improved overtime benefits.
Sponagle said Tuesday that some workplace issues are still outstanding from before the strike. He said he’d be contacting the union’s legal adviser to see how it can respond to the layoffs.
“I’m sympathetic to the members who will be losing their jobs. It’s disappointing for sure. We went through tough negotiation and we landed on a strike and I hope that wasn’t a determining factor as to why they chose to contract that work out that’s been done there for years. I can only sympathize with the members affected by the decision of the region.”
CAO Willa Thorpe said in the release that the municipality is “working directly with impacted employees at the MRF site to help them transition at this difficult time.”
Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com
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