Bay of Quinte MPP Todd Smith says the Provincial Government is looking at ways it can support workers at the Trenton Nestle plant, which is slated to close next year.
Smith says he’s meeting with the union representing those workers later this week, to discuss ways to either try and convince Nestle to stay in town, or help displaced employees to find new work.
“We’re going to provide support at the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development for the Rapid Re-employment and Training Services program for those who are at Nestle, and get those employees the support that they need. But in the meantime, I’m happy to meet with the union that represents the workers. I’m not sure if the horse is out of the barn on this or not, I suspect that it probably is, but we want to make sure that those workers are looked after.”
Smith added that if Nestle does follow through on the closure, there are lots of other businesses that could be interested in backfilling that facility and bring more job opportunities to the region.
“We know that there have been businesses that were looking at the Quinte Region, but there haven’t been spaces that are big enough for them, or in the right spot. So hopefully working with QEDC, if we can’t convince Nestle to stay here, we can bring somebody else to backfill there and keep people employed.”
Nestle decided to close the plant last week and move its production to the United Sates, where it ships 80% of the goods produced in Trenton.
