Suddenly
last week, the only Canadian plant owned by Vertis Holdings Inc. was shut down
in Fort Erie, Ontario, leaving about 100 staff without jobs or the advance
notice, termination, and severance required under Canadian law. The closure occurred simultaneously
with last week’s completion of the acquisition of most of Vertis’s assets by
Quad/Graphics (both American companies), a process that began last October in
which Vertis is reported to have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to facilitate the sale
(after a similar filing only two years previously). The Fort Erie plant is among at least four Vertis facilities
that were not included in the purchase.
Jim Thibert,
general manager of the Fort Erie Economic Development and Tourism Corporation,
tells the Fort Erie Times that Quad Graphics took over operations at the now defunct plant last
year but does not find it feasible to keep the Canadian location open. "They don't want a plant in Fort
Erie because they have nothing to do with Canada," he says.
In a media
release, Dan Wickson, president of Communications, Energy and Paperworks Union
of Canada (CEP) Local 425-G, which
represents the Vertis employees, says many of them have worked for the company
for most of their lives. The
release says CEP is currently in discussions with legal counsel, the Town of
Fort Erie and its development agency, and the local Member of Provincial
Parliament while the union decides on its next move. Since Vertis is based in the U.S.A., Wickson predicts in the Fort
Erie Times that employees
will likely have to file a claim for their severance and termination pay in a
U.S. bankruptcy court.
Quad/Graphics
director of corporate communications Claire Ho tells PrintCan that U.S.
facilities also left out of the Quad/Graphics transaction that are slated to
close in the next 60 to 90 days are located in Dallas, Texas; Medina, Ohio; and North
Brunswick, New Jersey.
Any thoughts or further predictions
regarding fiscal, legal, and moral responsibility and outcomes
in this matter?
More financial data at:
