By paNOW Saff

Top Stories of 2015: #8 Job losses in PA due to closures and contract cancellations

Dec 25, 2015 | 5:46 AM

Our 8th top story is about the unfortunate number of job losses Prince Albert experienced in 2015 due to closures, and contract cancellations of a few large companies including North Sask Laundry, P.A. Bottlers, and Northern Grocers.

Northern Grocers

In February after decades of operating in the Prince Albert community, Northern Grocers announced it would be shutting down in April and its 23 employees would lose their jobs.

The Grocer wholesaler supplied groceries, tobacco, confectionary, produce and frozen foods to retailers and food service operators.

Management made the decision to close amidst lower profits and difficulties finding labour, but one of the main reasons was that the managers were reaching retirement age, Paul Braaten, president and manager of Northern Grocers said when the announcement was made.

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The managers did make efforts to avoid having to make the decision to close.

“We approached a few people to purchase it, but nothing has come about yet. There’s still people looking at it,” said Braaten back in February.

When asked why management chose closure over downsizing the business, Braaten said their trucks would be running empty if they downsize.

“You just about got to take everything you’ve got in order to make the run. You know, freight is so expensive. So, if you don’t have everything, there’s not much point [in] downsizing,” he said.

P.A. Bottlers

In March it was announced that Coca-Cola had decided not to renew its distribution agreement with local soft-drink distributor Prince Albert Bottlers Ltd. resulting in what would eventually be the loss of 60 jobs across the company’s operations in various communities across Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

P.A. Bottlers has operations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba: Prince Albert, Yorkton, Flin Flon and The Pas. In 2010, it signed a five-year agreement with CCR to distribute Coca-Cola products.

The business has a long history in Prince Albert: it was founded by the late Art Hauser in 1965, and he won awards including the Samuel McLeod Legacy Award for lifetime business achievement in 1998. He was named Prince Albert’s Citizen of the Year in 2008. He passed away in 2009.

It has been owned and operated by the Hausers since its founding.

When contacted for comment in March, Coca Cola’s director of brand and business communications Shannon Denny responded “thank you for reaching out, however we do not comment on specific details of our agreements.”

North Sask Laundry

Also in March it was officially announced when the employees of North Sask Laundry in Prince Albert would be punching out at work for the last time.

 K-Bro Linens opened its private laundry facility in Regina in early October and the centralized facility replaced five other laundry facilities in Saskatchewan resulting in approximately 400 job losses including 79 out of Prince Albert.

In a statement by CUPE Saskatchewan back in March they expressed concern on the impact the privatization would have on the economy.

“In Prince Albert the closure of the laundry facility means a loss of $3.6 million a year to the local economy in wages and spin off benefits,” said president of CUPE Saskatchewan Tom Graham.  “Similar losses will be felt in Yorkton, Weyburn and Moose Jaw.”

In addition, CUPE said the quality of linen service could decline.

“CUPE feels strongly that public laundry services deliver high quality products, and we will watch closely to see how privatization impacts the quality of linens,” Graham said.

On Oct. 4 members of CUPE Local 3736 met to give the soon-to-be-unemployed workers of North Sask Laundry a final farewell.

Their last day was on Oct.10. 

news@panow.com

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