The mayor of Amherstburg and the president of Unifor Local 200 are disappointed with a recent announcement between the province and Diageo.
The announcement was made Friday afternoon where Diageo has committed to nearly $23-million in new investments, and as a result of this agreement, the province says Crown Royal products made by Diageo will continue to be available for purchase through the LCBO.
The agreement will see Windsor-Essex get $1-million for economic development, focused on Amherstburg, along with community projects to support residents in the town. However, the rest of the money will go to Toronto, Scarborough, and Eastern Ontario, with some supporting the agricultural sector, marketing and promotions.
Diageo announced in August 2025 that it would be closing the Amherstburg bottling plant by the end of February 2026.
Local 200 pleaded to Premier Doug Ford to pull all Diageo made products from the LCBO. While Ford threatened to do so, it never happened.
John D'Agnolo, President of Unifor Local 200, says this is shameful.
"They didn't look at those employees in Amherstburg when they were bargaining this agreement, and clearly they didn't have anybody from us at that table. You know, when you think about $20-million... they make that in a year... plus, plus, plus, plus, plus... this is so disappointing for that town."
He says at the end of the day, Doug Ford made a decision.
"He supported the company in this decision by doing what he's done, and our Amherstburg workers are on the outside looking in, and it's so shameful. I don't know how you could sleep at night after what you just signed."
D'Agnolo says he pleaded to Doug Ford to remove Diageo products from the LCBO shelves.
"And said to please take it off the shelves and he didn't do so. He said he was waiting until they closed. Unfortunately, they must've had a plan in place because this makes no sense whatsoever to do what they're doing to these Amherstburg workers."
Amherstburg mayor Michael Prue says he's disappointed.
"Is it good for Ontario? Maybe. $23-million is being spent in a lot of places, but not here. The only money that is actually for Amherstburg is the $500,000 for community investment."
He says he doesn't even know where this money will go.
"It can go to a church, it can go to a food bank, is it coming to the town? We don't even know that. And I'm not saying anything wrong in sending it to a church or a food bank, it's not going to come to the town that can do something for the benefit of the people who lost their jobs."
Prue says he spoke with the Finance Minister a few days ago, who told him the region would get $1-million.
"I thought 'well that's not what I want, but okay, we'll look at it'... but when I saw how much was actually involved - $23-million - and that we're getting four per cent in the area, and maybe two per cent to be spent for the people of Amherstburg, that's pretty small potatoes."
The union represented just over 200 employees at the facility at 110 St. Arnaud St. prior to the closure announcement.
As of January 30, approximately 98 employees are still at the plant. The others have either retired or taken other jobs after accepting their severance packages.
Diageo stated their reasoning behind closing the Amherstburg facility was to improve its North American supply chain, with Crown Royal whisky destined for Canada and non-U.S. export markets now being bottled at Diageo's Valleyfield, Quebec, facility, while whisky bottling for the U.S. market shifts elsewhere.
-with files from AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides