Unifor is in discussions with the company that owns Windsor Salt to find out exactly how many workers will be laid off and for how long.
The union represents workers at the Windsor Salt Ojibway Mine, who have been laid off indefinitely, with the company citing unfavourable weather conditions leading to soft customer demand.
Unifor National President Lana Payne told AM800's The Shift the news is devastating for all the members at Windsor Salt.
"We're working through a fair bit of this right now with the company," she says. "We've got our staff engaged with the locals to make sure we're minimizing as much as we can, the impact, and also the length of these layoffs."
A spokesperson for Morton Salt said idling the mine means production will end and the site will transition into a "maintenance and care" status.
"During this time, far fewer employees will be needed. The company anticipates retaining approximately 18 hourly employees; the remaining hourly employees will be subject to layoffs," the spokesperson said, noting the company is working with the union to ensure compliance with the collective agreement.
The company also stated it doesn't know how long the layoff will last.
Payne says they still don't know how many people will be laid off.
"Maybe they don't know, that's the other thing right now. Markets are changing, and supply and demand is the way that it is," she says. "This is the problem that we get into, again, when one corporation basically controls the salt market in North America, and that's what we've got right now."
Payne says they want to make sure we're doing everything we can to ensure there's a future for the mine.
In August, 2023, about 250 workers, represented by Unifor Locals 1959 and 240 signed a collective agreement with the company, which is owned by Los Angeles-based Stone Canyon Industries.
Prior to ratifying that five-year agreement, workers were on strike for 192 days..