PICTOU, N.S. – Michelin Canada is cutting 500 jobs as it phases out production of small tires at its plant in northeastern Nova Scotia.
The Granton factory employs one-thousand workers.
Andy Thompson, the deputy warden of Pictou County, says the job cuts are a devastating blow to its rural economy.
Grant Ferguson is president of Michelin North America in Canada and he says the company will offer transfers to employees who are willing to work at its two other Michelin factories in southern Nova Scotia.
Michelin is also offering severance packages and early retirement for employees who don’t want to take jobs in the other communities, which are more than 200 kilometres away.
Ferguson says the company expects between 100 and 200 employees will move.
He says Michelin’s move is in response to a continuing shift towards larger tires in the North American car tire market combined with the limits of the existing plant in Granton.
The company says market demand for the 14- to 16-inch tires produced at the facility is diminishing and it’s not worthwhile to upgrade the 43-year-old plant.
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