Centre helps displaced workers

BY VINCENT BALL
EXPOSITOR STAFF / BRANTFORD

Companies looking for skilled, motivated workers need not look any further than the Steel Worker Action Centre on Morrell Street, says a centre spokesman.


"We have lot of people here - former GenFast and now former Easton (Coatings) employees - who are good, skilled workers and we want to make sure employers in and around Brantford know that," said Brian Van Tilborg, the centre's co-ordinator. "A lot of the skills they obtained at GenFast and also at Easton are transferable. They have skills other employers can use."

The centre is a community effort that includes contributions from the United Steel Workers area council, provincial government, the city's economic development department, as well as King and Benton, which has provided the centre free space.

King and Benton's Steve Charest attended the open house and said the need for the centre is a "sign of the times." He said he wouldn't be surprised to see additional jobs lost in the manufacturing sector.

Charest, who provides free space to other action centres in the city, believes there's a transition taking place in the economy. And he thinks city officials and others should be doing more to lessen the impact on the community.

"This is a community issue and we need to get moving on this. But right now I don't see that sense of urgency out there."

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