Roughly 150 former employees of Erwin Hymer Group gathered at their Reuter Drive factory in Cambridge demanding answers.
“We want to deliver that we are a family and how we were terminated was not called for,” said organizer Bonnie Dery. “They gave us three minutes of their time while half these people have given 30 years of their life.”
Last week, 850 workers were let go as the company filed for creditor protection.
On Tuesday, a rallying group wanted to know about their severance and their future.
“A lot of us are left in the dark for months about everything going on,” said former line worker Nick Holden.
No one from the company was present to speak with former employees or available to contact.
The mayors of Kitchener and Cambridge released a joint press release stating their support for the workers and were invited to the rally, but didn’t show up.
They were both tied up with regional council working on the budget that was approved on Tuesday.
“Both [Kitchener] mayor [Berry] Vrbanovic and I have been on the phone all weekend with the minister of economic development, job creation, and trade,” said Cambridge mayor Kathryn McGarry. “We reached out already to the rapid re-employment team.”
A Ministry of Labour official showed up after the rally to drop off paperwork for the employees so that the province can help out.
In 2016, Erwin Hymer Group purchased Roadtrek. Two weeks ago, it closed a deal to be purchased by Thor Industries, but without the North American division.
Erwin Hymer cited financial irregularities and suspended several managers pending an investigation.
Court documents revealed that they received a $5 million loan on Valentine’s Day to cover the rest of the salaries and vacation pay.
A spokesperson for the rally says they want a police investigation launched to determine if there was any financial wrong doing.
