THUNDER BAY - From building ships that took to the sea during the First World War to planes that soared through skies during the Second World War, workers in Thunder Bay have often stepped up to help when the country needed it most. And while the latest product to be produced at the plant may be the smallest, it will go a long way in saving lives.
Bombardier will be joining the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by manufacturing ventilator components at the Thunder Bay plant.
“This plant has a long history,” said Dave Black, general manager of the Thunder Bay Bombardier plant. “It has worked on minesweepers during World War One, Hawker Hurricanes in World War Two, buses. This might be the smallest thing we have ever built, but still an exciting project and we are very happy and proud to leverage our manufacturing and engineering capabilities to help the medical industry especially in the fight against this pandemic.”
Bombardier is working with O-Two Medical Industries in Southern Ontario and will complete electrical work and assembly of internal components. The final assembly and testing of the ventilators will be done by O-Two Medical Industries.
“We are not certified medically for this,” Black said. “They will do final assembly and final testing and ship them from there.”
Black said the plant expects to help produce 18,000 ventilators over the course of three or four months and work should begin by the end of April.
Specialized parts are required for the manufacture, including injected moulded components that are being shipped to the city.
“We are still working on our final assembly instructions but we are really close to receiving some parts here,” Black said. “We hope to be getting them by the end of next week and start.”
The local Bombardier plant has experienced several hardships recently, with more than 550 workers laid off last year due to a lack of contracts, and as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened, Bombardier halted operations at all its transportation plants.
Work on the ventilators will see between 40 and 50 workers return to the job and Unifor Local 1075 president, Dominic Pasqualino, said workers are proud to be doing their part to help the nation.
“We are very excited to do that,” he said. “We want to be part of the solution to this problem the world is facing right now. This plant is excited to do this and the people are happy to be part of the solution.”
While work is underway at the plant, Pasqualino said workers will be doing everything to keep safe on the floor.
“We are going to be as safe as possible,” he said. “Maybe increase the amount of shifts we have and certainly they will be social distancing and sanitizing the plant on a regular basis. We do have protocols in place and we will be working on refining that.”
The local operation has already been helping in the fight against COVID-19 by donating its surplus of N95 masks to essential services and providing wire to those making masks.
Black added this shows just how versatile the plant is and he hopes will lead to more opportunities down the road to get more workers back to work.
