Heather Wright/The Independent

Unifor is calling on the federal and provincial governments to take another look at what the closure of INEOS Styrolutions will mean for the petrochemical industry.

The company, which had been subject to new regulation after benzene releases sickened its neighbours from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, announced it would close the plant in June 2026. By October, INEOS said it was accelerating the closure to the end of 2025. 

Unifor Local 914 represents up to 50 workers on the site. National Representative Gary Lynch says the union want the federal and provincial governments to intervene and secure a new investor for the site. “INEOS must fulfill its responsibility to these workers and the Sarnia community by exploring all avenues to keep the site operating safely under new ownership,” said Unifor Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi in a news release.

Lynch says the plant is an important link in the petro chemical chain. 

“At the end of the day, this is bigger than just INEOS. They take a product in from refineries, and they make it when it leaves there viable,” he says.

What the region’s big oil and gas producers, like Imperial and Shell, will do without the plan is “a big question mark, because they’re not going to stop producing petroleum… You can’t make petroleum without a benzene product coming from it.”

The federal and provincial government imposed new emission rules for benzene because of the releases in April that all other oil producers will now have to follow. 

“It’s going to impact a lot of big players around you know, not just in Sarnia, but all over the world.”

Lynch says aside from the affect on other petrochemical companies, he’s concerned about the “highly-trained, well-educated members of Unifor” who will be looking for work again. 

While Lynch admits their skills will be highly sought after, it isn’t idea for them to be “bouncing around from place to place to place…they want some stability, like everybody else does in this world.”

While Lynch is not directly involved in any drive to reach the federal government, he says Unifor is “been talking with the government, looking for grants or anywhere we can get some money to help with the repairs of this place”