MONTREAL -- Wishing that Bombardier would shut down means wishing for the collective impoverishment of Quebecers and giving up on thousands of workers.
That was the stark message delivered in an open letter Friday by David Chartrand, Quebec coordinator of the union of machinists and vice-president of the FTQ, Quebec's largest federation of labour unions.
Chartrand said his letter is in response to all those who, out of spite, and because of the company's difficulties, are hoping for the outright closure of Bombardier or that it be refused any further financial assistance on the pretext that it is again on the brink.
The union leader invited critics of the beleaguered company to think about its workers, the ones who would be the most hurt by the refusal of financial assistance to Bombardier, and not the executives of the company.
Chartrand said that without Bombardier, companies like Airbus, Mitsubishi or Stelia would not have established themselves in Quebec.
He added that Bombardier is the company that invested the most in research and development in Canada in 2017 and 2018, amounts of $ 1.6 billion and $1.5 billion respectively.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2020.
