IRVING LAYS OFF 60 REFINERY EMPLOYEES, SEES MORE JOB CUTS

Irving Oil on Thursday said it laid off about 60 Saint John, N.B. refinery employees, representing seven per cent of the refinery team, due to challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The firm will reduce the refinery's contract workforce to 225 from 1,000 in the first quarter. Irving operates Canada's largest refinery in Saint John. “The COVID-19 pandemic has had extreme and serious impacts on our business and our industry,” the company said. “The collapse in demand for motor fuels, jet fuel and other refined products, together with extreme market volatility, serious negative impacts to refining margins and high levels of uncertainty about the depth and duration of the downturn in our economies, continue to create prolonged and significant challenges.”