No explanation, as Goodwill employees locked out in “unforseen” closures

“I have to talk to the various experts to help me through this process”, Nakamura said when asked if Goodwill’s hundreds of employees would receive any compensation or severance packages following the abrupt job losses.

Since shutting down 16 stores and 10 donations centres on Sunday, the locations have turned into dump sites.

She said she intends examine all possible solutions for Goodwill’s woes but could not say when or if the Toronto and southern Ontario locations would reopen.

According to Nakamura’s statement, Goodwill “is exploring a variety of options to continue its decades-long mission” and “will be reaching out to the union, stakeholders and all levels of government to bring clarity as soon as possible”.

“We can understand one store closing for not being profitable, but we certainly don’t understand (that happening), especially in the Greater Toronto Area, and Barrie area”.

“I recognize this has all happened very suddenly”, Nakamura said.

Ellickson said Goodwill and the Canadian Airport Workers Union, which represents store employees, have been involved in arbitration.

“They’re without a job and there’s no plans by this employer – they have come up with no plan to find the cash or get the intervention from a third party that they need in order to open the stores”, Ellickson said. All Goodwill organizations are separately incorporated and governed by their own board of directors. The charity cited a “cash flow crisis” as the reason for the sudden closures. “To those employees and other members of the community who benefit from Goodwill’s services, please know I am thinking about you”, said Nakamura.

Goodwill centres in some parts of the province, such as Hamilton, London, Sarnia and St. Catharines, have not been affected by the closures.

In 2014, Goodwill Industries of Toronto had total revenues of $28 million, though retail sales were down more than $2 million from the year before.