Former worker of Amherstburg, Ont. Diageo plant speaks out

The Diageo plant seen in Amherstburg, Ont. on Feb. 25, 2026. (Travis Fortnum/CTV News Windsor)

The sudden closure of the Diageo plant in Amherstburg, Ont. is still being felt. The finality still hurts because there was no proper send off after years on the job.

“Wednesday and they said at 1:30 p.m. you guys are done and you don’t have to come back ever again. It was… You could really see it hit people,” said Doug Benecritis, who worked at the plant for over 20 years.

“I wish we would have had a little bit more notice so that we could have planned properly and maybe tried to have the party on Wednesday, rather than Friday.”

Unifor Local 200 President John D’Agnolo has his theory.

“I have this suspicion that they didn’t want all the press there as the workers were leaving the plant,” he said.

The workforce of 100 was expecting to clock out Friday but were paid to leave early.

Benecritis was back at the 99-year-old plant Thursday morning to tie up loose ends.

“I’m used to the humming of the machines, the laughter of people, just the general routine of it all and to walk in and walk through the building and just being that quiet, it’s eerie,” he said.

D’Agnolo appreciated Premier Doug Ford’s support when he emptied a bottle of Crown Royal during a news conference last year, but feels let down after the fact.

“I’m disappointed in the government that didn’t take the alcohol off the shelves as soon as they announced they were leaving,” he said.

A couple of weeks ago, the province announced a $23 million deal with the company, allowing for all Diageo products to stay on the shelf at LCBOs.

Amherstburg would get $1 million of that for economic development and community projects

“If I didn’t do anything they’d get this. Zero,” Ford said at a news conference Thursday.

“I fought like hell and we’re getting $23 million off Diageo. That would have never happened.”

That’s little solace to mayor Michael Prue.

“The overwhelming bulk of the money goes to three other sites. One in Eastern Ontario, two in Toronto, to bottle booze so that’s not helping anybody here,” Prue said.

The deal also calls for $5 million to be used in Ontario-based marketing and promotion, with some of that being used for the FIFA World Cup.

“It burns me because we have 160 people who have lost their job. Some have gone elsewhere already but some haven’t found another job and yesterday was very traumatic for them. Our concern is those jobs,” he said.

Ford said his government will fight for Amherstburg.

“We’re going to make sure that we put it at the top of our list on our economic development strategy to attract companies down there to open up and be very supportive of the community,” he said.

For now, Benecritis and others look forward to gathering one last time as a group at a venue in Amherstburg Friday for closure, their way. They will then lean on the resources provided by the union to help them transition into the next chapter of their lives.