I couldn't agree more with Bruce Wark's editorial on the closing of the Daily News ("Bean counter B.S.," Feb. 21). It's another hit for the Metro area. But Bruce did not go far enough with these companies and their greed. First we had greedy Hershey (Moirs) pulling out for a cheaper labour market and laying off 600 employees, then we had greedy Superstore (Loblaws) closing out most of their regional office here in favour of their Ontario base and laying off over 150 office employees, and now greedy owners of the Daily News laying off another 100 employees. It makes me laugh when you hear these companies say "our employees are our strength" and how they value their employees. The only thing these companies give are a lot of lies and false hope to employees. We have nearly 1,000 people in this city losing their jobs in six months, and the only new jobs in the area are retail jobs and call centre jobs and a lot of part-time jobs. Jobs increase in Ontario and Alberta only. As usual, the Maritimes get the bottom with job cuts again. And they wonder why there is less company loyalty or workers who care. Bruce asked Transcontinental VP Marc-Noel Ouellette why they would not give employees further notice and his response was that you would have "de-motivated" workers. Well, it's too bad Bruce was not around when the Superstore owners told their office workers six months in advance of their closure. It's a really nice thing to tell folks who are losing their jobs. I'm sure Bruce could have written a book with information from employees on their shabby treatment on the layoffs from these companies. I for one will no longer be supporting any of these businesses.
By Roger Martell
