Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long (Image: Danielle McCreadie)
The member of Parliament for Saint John-Rothesay called layoffs at Irving Oil “devastating” for the employees, their families, the community and the province.
The company announced cuts on Wednesday citing economic challenges connected to the pandemic.
Wayne Long said he was briefed by executives at Irving Oil about the workforce reductions.
“Corporate Irving Oil is laying off 178 local Saint Johners from their operations. Tough day. My heart goes out to those employees and their families,” Long said.
He said it’s another reality check showing the deep impacts of COVID-19.
“We want to make sure those families and most importantly those employees are looked after. If there is anything we can do federally to avail programs, I’m going to go to bat for them to bring more funding to this riding,” Long said.
Long said he knows it was a heartbreaking day for Irving Oil and he said the federal government wants to work with the company to help them recover.
He hopes those workers can be hired back but he acknowledges “we are not there yet.”
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