Nestle Purina to Close Pet Food Plant in Ontario

Nestle Purina plans to shutter its pet food manufacturing plant in Mississauga, ON next year as the company shifts production to facilities in the U.S., the Canadian labor union Unifor announced in a Nov. 9 press release. 87 workers at the site are expected to lose their jobs. 

Unifor said Purina’s decision to close the site occurred three days after contract negotiations took place between the company and representatives of Unifor Local 41-O, which includes production, distribution, maintenance, and sanitation workers at the Mississauga plant. 

“There’s no reason for Nestle to close this facility,” Unifor National President Jerry Dias said in a statement. “Generations of Canadians have worked at Purina and now politics is forcing people out of work.”

The labor union alleged that Nestle Purina is transferring operations to the U.S. in a bid to “satisfy U.S. President Donald Trump,” as his administration levies tariffs on the Canadian manufacturing sector. 

Political and consumer pressure will be used to combat the company’s decision, according to Unifor, Canada’s largest union operating in the private sector. 

“We’re not taking this laying down,” Joe Say, Unifor Local 41-O president, said in the release. “Mississauga’s Purina workers helped make the company what it is today.”

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