Labatt decided to close it's Toronto manufacturing plant, meaning a loss of 265 jobs. Even though industry analysts expect only a small fraction of them to come to London, the announcement still came as a great relief to the London plant's 277 unionized workers.
Labatt spokesperson Bob Chant said details about investment and jobs in the London brewery would be announced "in the near future." He said closing the Toronto plant was largely a bottom-line decision, but the company's historic roots in London were also a factor.
The announcement was also a relief for London Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco and London-area MPPs Chris Bentley and Steve Peters, who have worked for months to save the brewery founded in London in 1847.
Chant said Labatt didn't ask for economic incentives to stay in London and none were offered.
Labatt is faced with a stagnant North American market and fierce competition. Labatt has been reviewing its operations in central Canada for 18 months. It has eight Canadian breweries compared to five for Molson, its major competitor.
The London plant was hit by a bitter four-month lockout in 2002, which ended when workers approved a seven-year contract by a single vote.
The Toronto shutdown is the latest move in a wave of amalgamations and restructuring as brewing giants compete in the global market.
Labatt was bought in 1995 by Belgian-owned Interbrew, which completed its own blockbuster $11.4-billion US merger with South America's AmBev last August to make it the world's largest brewer by volume.
In September, Labatt announced it was closing its brewery in the Vancouver suburb of New Westminster on April 21, cutting 180 jobs.
After the Toronto closing, Labatt will have breweries in London, Creston, B.C., Edmonton, Montreal, Halifax and St. John's.
