Rally held to support Diageo workers

A rally was held outside the Diageo plant in Amherstburg last Wednesday afternoon to support the workers after the company announced Aug. 28 their plans to close it. Unifor Local 200 is fighting the decision and wants the jobs kept in town.

Retirees and concerned community members rallied outside of the Diageo plant in Amherstburg to offer support for the workers.

Over 100 people attended last Wednesday afternoon’s rally along St. Arnaud St., near the main entrance to the bottling facility. Diageo’s corporate head office announced its plans to close the plant Aug. 28, with the closure scheduled to take effect by February 2026.

Nikki Dufour, chair of the Unifor Local 200 retirees chapter from Diageo, said they wanted to show their support to the current staff inside the plant. There are approximately 181 retirees in total that are part of the chapter.

Many of the retirees have connections with current employees at Diageo and they wanted them to know they have their backs.

“We know the people in the plant,” she said. “They are family.”

“We totally support them,” said vice chair Paul Pouget.

Dufour added there was a meeting with the retirees prior to the rally with the position being taken by the union is that they are going to keep the plant open. Unifor Local 200 president John D’Agnolo and plant chair Doug Benekritis spoke at the meeting, Dufour added.

The impact of the possible closing of the Diageo plant in Amherstburg won’t just be felt by the employees and their families, it will have wide-reaching impacts on the town as a whole.

“It affects the community,” said Dufour.

Dufour said her daughter works at Diageo and was one of the employees who received an emergency alert about a meeting. It was there they learned about the plans to close the Amherstburg plant. Management within the plant likely didn’t know either, she added.

“I don’t believe anyone in the plant knew,” said Dufour. “This is (a) corporate (decision).”

Dufour said she worked 41 years at the plant, retiring in 2014, and the retirees knew something had to be done. They spread the word through social media and through friends.

“We’re all heartbroken,” said Dufour. “We know these people.”

Pouget said he spent 40 years working at the plant. He was pleased to see the turnout that came to the rally, noting there were not just retirees there but members of the community at large too.

Noting he retired in 2004, Pouget estimated that he still knows more than half of the people who work in the bottling plant. 

He said the planned closure is devastating to the workers, their families and the community. 

Should the company follow through with their plans, Pouget added it is important to get something new into the town.

“We’ve got to get a business in here as soon as possible,” he said.

Gary Goulin, who worked at the plant for 38.5 years, came out to back the current employees.

“This is an institution here in Amherstburg,” said Goulin.

Goulin said multiple generations of his family either work or used to work at the plant.

“Now, for no reason at all, they want to close it,” he said. “It’s wrong. It’s dead wrong.”

Closing the plant will be a “kick in the pants” for Amherstburg and “tourism isn’t going to cut it.” He said he will drink the Crown Royal that he has but doubts he will buy any more.

“It’s just an awful thing,” he said, of the closure decision.

Essex MPP Anthony Leardi and members of Amherstburg town council, including Mayor Michael Prue, also attended the rally.

Leardi said it was great to see the turnout of people and that “this is exactly what Amherstburg needs.” The PC MPP added he wanted to show his support for the staff at the plant.

“I’m here to support the Diageo workers here,” said Leardi, “and I want the workers to know and for Amherstburg to know we’re all on their side.”

The news from the company was also a shock for Leardi.

“We didn’t know it was coming,” he said. “My reaction was the same as everyone else. My heart goes out to everyone affected by this decision and all of their families. This town needs to stay together.”

Leardi encouraged Diageo brass to contact Premier Doug Ford’s office and work something out.

“If I were the executives at Diageo, I’d pick up the phone, call the Premier of Ontario and I would say ‘let’s sit down and talk.’”

Ford said at a news conference in Kitchener that the move to remove roughly 200 jobs, which includes students, is damaging to a community the size of Amherstburg.

“These people are devastated,” said Ford. “The message to the CEO in France is ‘you hurt my people. I’m going to hurt you. You are going to feel the pain in February when these people don’t have a paycheque. I’m going to stand up for the people of Ontario and I encourage all Canadians and all Ontarians to stand up for the people. You don’t know if you’re next. But the thing that ticks me off is, I get if companies move back and forth, but what I don’t get is when you’re someone’s largest customer in North America, you’re going after the largest customer.”

Ford added: “I always say that smart people aren’t too smart and you guys are about as dumb as a bag of hammers for doing this.”

The premier followed that up by pouring out a bottle of Crown Royal. 

“This is what I think of Crown Royal. That’s what they can do,” as the whiskey poured out. 

Prue said he was pleased with what he saw from Ford, saying “he did a very good job” in standing up for the workers.

“I was really impressed with the Premier yesterday,” Prue said during last Wednesday’s rally. 

The attendance at the rally was also something that the mayor was pleased with.

“I’m really happy the town has shown up for this,” said Prue.

Diageo said it will cease operations at the Amherstburg plant by February 2026 “as part of an ongoing commitment to increase the efficiency and resiliency of its manufacturing footprint.”

The corporation acknowledged the Amherstburg plant is one of Diageo’s facilities currently bottling Crown Royal products but stated Crown Royal will continue to be mashed, distilled, and aged in Canada, just as it has been since 1939. 

“Diageo will maintain its significant footprint across Canada, including at our Canadian headquarters and warehouse operations in the Greater Toronto Area and other bottling and distillation facilities in Gimli, Manitoba and Valleyfield, Quebec,” their announcement stated. 

Diageo stated they have continuous efforts “to improve its North American supply chain” and ensure the corporation “is best positioned for long-term sustainable growth.”

“Through this process, the company will unlock additional productivity and increase resiliency and capacity to scale, effectively meeting demand across its markets and shifting some bottling volume to be closer to its many U.S. Crown Royal consumers. These changes are consistent with the strategic priorities in Diageo’s global Accelerate program, which sets out clear cash delivery targets and a disciplined approach to operational excellence and cost efficiency for the company,” the company stated.

While thanking the Amherstburg employees for their dedication, Diageo denies the decision had anything to do with the current trade environment between Canada and the United States.

“We appreciate our dedicated Amherstburg employees for their contributions to Diageo and the Crown Royal brand.

“This was a difficult decision, but one that is crucial to improving the efficiency and resiliency of our supply chain network,” said Marsha McIntosh, Diageo’s president of North America supply stated in the Aug. 28 announcement. “We are committed to continuing our support for the community during this

transition.”

Rally held to support Diageo workers

By Ron Giofu