Locked doors and piles of donations were frozen in snow outside of one of Barrie’s Goodwill locations on Monday.
It's not a sight Colleen Jackson expected after almost 14 years of service with the company. She’s still in shock by the company’s decision to close 16 stores and 10 donation centres across the province.
“None of us know what's going to happen, we are all in shock, we're angry,” she says. “We’re upset, we're confused. “
Sunday’s announcement affects 430 employees, including workers in Barrie, Orillia and Newmarket. Goodwill’s CEO has cited a cash flow crisis –donations were down, while staff costs remained high.
“It requires a massive amount of staff labour to be able to produce, and recycle and separate before those items go into the different waste systems or potential of resale,” says CEO Keiko Nakamura.
Employees say it's difficult to see so many donations piled up outside the store. Because no one is here to process them, the items will likely be ruined.
“It's heartbreaking when I see all that stuff. We can't take them, we can't use them, we can't do anything with it now,” says Jackson.
Union reps hope a solution can still be found.
“We are going back and forth with the company, in talks with the company to see what can be done, and return these workers as soon as possible to work,” says Artan Milaj, Vice President of the Canadian Airport Workers Union.
Nakamura says she wants to assure employees they are looking into every possible solution, but the stores that are closed will stay that way until further notice.
