Friday marked the last day of production at the Lear auto parts plant in south Kitchener.
Workers knew the day was coming – the impending shutdown was first announced in May – but it wasn’t until Wednesday that they had confirmation this would be their last week at Homer Watson Boulevard and Manitou Drive.
“It’s been a pretty rough couple of weeks,” said Lonnie Barber, who described the mood inside as “a lot of handshakes; a lot of hugs.”
In the plant’s heyday, more than 1,000 people worked out of the facility.
By Friday, only 20 people remained inside to disassemble machinery, which will soon be sent to Mexico.
They were joined by recently retired employees like Tony Mota, who came back to say goodbye to their longtime coworkers.
“It was surreal. It was tough, but we made it through,” Mota said.
The flags that had flown outside the plant for years – one each for Canada, the United States and the Lear Corporation – were also taken down.
After the last bit of work was done, the employees moved over to a nearby restaurant for a farewell toast.
The plant was listed for sale last month, and several interested parties have toured through since then.
