One week before Windsor Star production plant closure, employees rally

The Windsor Star is set to see its last locally-printed edition roll off the press in one week’s time, with Postmedia announcing late last month it would be closing the newspaper’s local production plant come March 3.

For Colin Brian, President of Unifor Local 517-G, it’s an especially unpleasant countdown.

“I always say I’ve got ink running through my veins,” Brian joked, reflecting on his family’s history with the century-old newspaper.

He told CTV News he and his brother both delivered papers when they were younger. His mom and dad both worked there, and his wife too.

Thursday, Brian was with union members at an impromptu rally in hopes of flagging concerns they have around what Postmedia may have planned for distribution of the paper after the closure of the Windsor facility.

He said much of the work that will be required to get the papers off trucks and to subscribers should be done by union members.

“We have the receiving dock workers, we have the loading dock workers and we have the building maintenance workers. So any building they move that work to, we lay claim on that work,” said Brian.

CTV News reached out to Postmedia Thursday afternoon to ask about the union’s concerns around distribution and delivery.

A spokesperson did not address those two points directly — but did highlight that the facilities where work is being outsourced to does employ unionized workers as well.

“The work done at this facility is going to two other Postmedia facilities. Both are union facilities – one in Etobicoke, which is where the Windsor Star will be printed and one in London where the inserting work will go,” wrote Phyllise Gelfand, vice president of communications for the company.

Gelfand reiterated that the decision to close the Windsor facility was not made lightly.

“This is a business decision like many other publishers are making. Costs must align with revenues for our business to be sustainable,” she wrote.

It’s one of many questions that hang in the air – with word also that cuts to the papers staff of journalists could be coming.

News came in January that Postmedia planned to lay off 11 per cent of its editorial staff — but how that factors into the Windsor Star’s team remains to be seen.

In Alberta, the company recently moved several community newspapers to entirely online-only formats.

Experts wonder how long it can be before that step is taken at all newspapers – with paper and ink copies becoming less and less tangible.

“The printed version that so many people like to hold in their hand, I think that’s becoming more and more obsolete,” says Veronique Mandal, coordinator of the journalism program at St. Clair College.

Mandal has 30 years of experience in the industry, some of that spent at the Windsor Star.

She said she’s seen the newsroom staff shrink from more than 100 people to about a dozen.

“The change has been extraordinary in some ways and catastrophic in others,” she added.

Mandal suspects there will be readers of the Star even if it does one day live exclusively online.

Brian said word the local plant would be shut down saw 1,500 people cancel their subscription in outrage over the 75 jobs to be lost.

He believes that demonstrates how the company’s move has hurt the city, but adds he doesn’t want more to follow in unsubscribing.

“There’s still people that work there,” he said. “We still need your support. We still need you to buy the paper.”

Brian is set to speak before Windsor City Council Monday, when he’ll ask the mayor and councillors to write a letter to Postmedia in protest of the job losses.