AJAX, ON – Sklar Peppler closed its Ajax manufacturing plant last month putting 174 employees out of work.

The company, which filed for bankruptcy protection two years ago, said it would consolidate furniture production at its plants in Mississippi and Oregon.

United Steelworkers’ claimed that Sklar Peppler management had reneged on its collective agreement in discontinuing Ajaz workers’ benefit package. “The union is committed to fight for every last penny owed to these workers,” said Wayne Fraser, director of USW Ontario/Atlantic chapter.