Postmedia job cuts signal the end of an era at the Windsor Star

An emotional time for staff at the Windsor Star following Postmedia's announcement that it will eliminate editorial and inserter positions, and outsource printing of the newspaper.

It means as of March 3, there will no longer be a daily newspaper printed in Windsor.

Unifor and CWA Canada say the decision by Postmedia will result in the loss of 75 jobs including building maintenance, crew leader, electrician, engraver, load dock helper, millwright, press operator and press operator apprentice.

The job cuts could increase as Unifor is still waiting for specifics on editorial job cuts.

The printing work at the Windsor Starway Production Plant is being transferred to a Toronto printer and the papers will then be shipped to the Windsor market. The inserting work is going to a plant in London.

Official notice of the plant closure was received Jan. 27.

Unifor and CWA Canada say they are protesting the decision and urging the newspaper publisher to reconsider.

Julie Kotsis, Unifor Media Council Chairperson and First Vice-President of Unifor Local 240, says we are seeing the end of a great and proud legacy.

CWA Canada Local 30553 Chapel Chairperson Shawn Bussey, Unifor Local 517-G President Colin Brian and Julie Kotsis, Unifor Media Council Chairperson and First Vice-President of Unifor Local 240, speak to the media following an announcement by Postmedia that it would no longer print the newspaper in Windsor. Jan. 31, 2023 (Photo by Rusty Thomson)

Unifor Local 517-G President Colin Brian, representing workers at the production plant, is a 4th generation press operator at the Windsor Star.

"There has been a Brian at the printing facility non-stop, consistently since the early 1940's. My parents met there, my whole family life as a child revolved around the Windsor Star, all my brothers, we were all carriers," he says.

Shawn Bussey, CWA Canada Local 30553 Chapel Chairperson, says this latest announcement means Postmedia has taken the Windsor Star one step further away from what it has always been, a local publication.

"A prominent fixture that gives back constantly to our community, created by and for our community, and produced within our community," he says.

The Windsor Star has been serving the community as a daily since 1918, after it began as the weekly Windsor Record in 1888. 

Postmedia Network Corp. plans to lay off 11 per cent of its editorial staff across Canada after workers were told the company was grappling with "economic contraction."