MORE THAN 50 members of Boilermakers Local 559 were put out of work when the Lafarge gypsum wallboard plant in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, shut down this summer. The plant had been operating at half capacity for most of the year.
Three employees will remain in the plant to make stucco for Corner Brook Pulp and Paper until that contract expires in December 2008.
The plant closing was the end of an era for many. In business for 55 years, it had employed members of two generations in some families.
George Wagner, project manager for Lafarge, cited increasing competition and a slumping wallboard market for the closing. “The quality of the product was never in question,” he said, “and the work force have shown themselves to be very dedicated.” The plant had won a Lafarge productivity award two years in a row.
Fallout from the closing was immediate. Two days after the announcement, Luke Dunphy, part owner of Galen Gypsum, said jobs in his quarry are in jeopardy unless another buyer for its gypsum can be found.
