Centreville Amusement Park has shut down, putting more than 400 seasonal workers out of a job, because the city workers strike has suspended ferry service to the Toronto Islands.
Shawdna Walker, Centreville’s director of marketing, said the park, whose antique carousel and other attractions are geared toward younger children, loses close to $100,000 every day it remains closed.
The family-owned company that owns the park, William Beasley Enterprises, employs more than 400 people in the park itself, as well as in other catering services on Toronto Islands.
Most of the seasonal employees are university, college and high school students, who are being told to wait until the strike is over, said human resources manager Jeff Snow, who is one of only four Centreville Amusement Park employees on the island today.
“They are mostly working here to earn tuition for the continuation of their school,” Mr. Snow said. “As a result of this strike, they are the innocent victims, and that’s the bottom line.”
Staff are being patient with the situation, Mr. Snow said, but if the strike drags on, students may find work elsewhere. Layoffs are also possible, he said.
The park is only open seasonally and the busiest period is usually the next couple weeks, Mr. Snow said. Close to 20,000 people come to Toronto Island on a busy weekend day in the the summer, with many of them spending time, and money at the amusement park, he said.
Mr. Snow said the park will re-open the day the strike is over.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.