{"id":3162,"date":"2019-07-18T13:30:50","date_gmt":"2019-07-18T17:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/?p=3162"},"modified":"2019-07-18T13:30:52","modified_gmt":"2019-07-18T17:30:52","slug":"bombardier-public-takeover-to-save-jobs-communities-and-the-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/bombardier-public-takeover-to-save-jobs-communities-and-the-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Bombardier: Public takeover to save jobs, communities and the environment!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the wake\nof the recent announcement from Bombardier that it will cut 550 jobs at its\nThunder Bay Rail Transportation facility, the Communist Party of Canada is\nreiterating its call for the aerospace and transportation corporation to be\nplaced under public ownership and democratic control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The job\ncuts are devastating to the Northern Ontario city of just over 100,000 people,\nwhere Bombardier is the 8th<\/sup> largest employer. The announcement comes\non the heels of 15,000 job cuts worldwide over the previous three years,\nincluding 3000 in Quebec and Ontario in November 2018. Over that same period,\nBombardier received at least $4 billion in public bailouts from the federal,\nOntario and Quebec governments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The\nspectacle of Bombardier receiving billions while cutting thousands of jobs has\nled analysts to describe the company as \u201cthe political equivalent of a\nprotection racket.\u201d Bombardier\u2019s executives have reached into the public purse\ntime after time, while paying themselves millions in publicly funded bonuses\nyear after year. It is a situation that shines a spotlight on the need for\npublic ownership and democratic control of profit-making corporations who hold\nworkers and communities ransom while lining their bank accounts and those of\ntheir richest shareholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the\nCommunist Party noted in 2017, \u201cPrivate corporations have repeatedly\ndemonstrated, in their pursuit of profit, that they cannot be relied upon to\nprovide good jobs with fair wages and benefits, to the working class in Canada.\nThe practice of massive public bailouts to huge corporations, in exchange for\njob guarantees that evaporate, must end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bombardier\nclaims that it must move the Thunder Bay jobs to the United States, so that its\ncontracts with US cities can qualify under Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cBuy America\u201d\nlegislation. In fact, there is no evidence available to date that Bombardier\nhas missed out on a single manufacturing contract because of Buy America. More\nlikely, Bombardier wants to move more of its production to lower wage and lower\nregulation jurisdictions, including non-union right-to-work states in the US.\nThis is exactly what the corporation did in 2017, when it inked a deal with\nAirbus to build C-Series jets in Alabama. In the process, while killing\nthousands of new jobs in Canada, Bombardier saw product orders increase by over\n44% in 2018 and earnings jump by a whopping 235% in the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bombardier\nis a huge, profitable corporation. Its profit for the 1st<\/sup> quarter of\n2019 was $239 million for three months, 443% higher than a year earlier.\nExpected 2019 sales revenues for the Transportation division are $8.75 billion,\nwith 1st<\/sup> quarter contract assets in this division $233 million\nhigher than the same period a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nCommunist Party calls for the public takeover and operation of Bombardier as\npart of a broader set of immediate demands for jobs, climate justice and increased\npublic transit. Public ownership of key industrial sectors, under democratic\ncontrol and planning, ensures responsible economic, social and environmental\nstewardship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While only\nsocialism can systemically place the needs of workers, communities and the\nenvironment ahead of profit, the alarming realities of mass job loss,\nimpoverishment and climate change requires radical and comprehensive policy\napproaches in the immediate term. The Communist Party calls on all labour and\nprogressive forces to demand action that can dramatically reduce carbon\nemissions and put the interests of people and the environment ahead of private\ncorporate profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such action\nincludes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n