NORTH SYDNEY — Members of the labour community in North Sydney kept a close watch on the Atlantic Castings Ltd. plant over the weekend, fearing the company is about to ship its equipment to auto parts plants in Ontario.
On Saturday, about 120 people stood guard at the entrance to the die-cast manufacturing plant in the Northside Industrial Park.
A few workers returned Sunday morning but with no activity apparent inside the building, they left a few hours later.
"We’re going to keep an eye on the plant," said Cliff Murphy, president of Cape Breton’s building and construction trades council. "If they show up, we’ll be back."
Labour groups heard Friday that one trailer loaded with machinery had left the plant, and another trailer showed up early Saturday but didn’t enter the site.
"This stuff should stay in Cape Breton," said Murphy.
Officials with Atlantic Castings couldn’t be reached for comment Sunday.
Atlantic Castings, formerly known as Cape Breton Castings, was shut down in late December, eliminating 45 full-time jobs and 10 part-time positions.
The company cited the dramatic downturn in the automotive industry for the closure.
The plant was established in 2004 and received $24.7 million of repayable assistance from the Cape Breton Growth Fund, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Enterprise Cape Breton Corp.
The growth fund took control of the plant in March 2006 when the project proponents encountered difficulties and surrendered their shares.
In 2007, a group of mostly local investors took control of the plant, obtaining it for $2 million, payable by way of a prom-issory note to the growth fund.
The purchasers renamed it Atlantic Castings, assumed responsibility for the employees and immediately injected $2 million into the operation, followed by an additional investment for new equipment.
’We’re going to keep an eye on the plant. If they (trucks to haul away equipment) show up, we’ll be back.’
