September 30, 2011
Unions raise concerns over Onex offer to invest in window and door manufacturer Jeld-Wen
The United Steelworkers and Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union are concerned about an offer from Onex Corp. (TSX: OCX) to acquire a 58 per cent stake in Jeld-Wen Inc., a Klamath Falls, Oregon manufacturer of door and window products with four factories in Canada.
Jeld-Wen Canada is based in Winnipeg, where it also has a window plant. Other manufacturing operations in Canada include the Saint-Apollinaire, Quebec window plant, the Saint-Henri, Quebec door plant and another window plant in Vaughan, Ontario, north of Toronto. The parent company is owned by the family of founder Richard Wendt.
Australia's Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), which is involved in a labour dispute with the firm, has asked unions around the world to wage a campaign against Jeld-Wen.
“We want Onex and Jeld-Wen to know that we are in full support of the CFMEU and will be alerting trade unions throughout North America about the labour dispute in Australia,” CEP president Dave Coles stated in a press release. “Trade unions do not want funds invested for retirees to be used to bust unions.”
In an amended agreement announced Aug. 1, Onex said the firm and its affiliates would invest $864 million in Jeld-Wen. Originally, Onex had planned to invest $675 million in a deal that would have given it 39 per cent ownership.
Onex is a private equity firm with more than $11 billion in assets under management. It has holdings in a variety of firms, including RSI Home Products Inc. and Tomkins Ltd.
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