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PAGE 6,,WEDNESI)ÂYJUNE 1 K 19 80, WFITBY FREE PRESS Federal government gave $42 million.... Localunion up set with ihlin grant A government grant that was given recently to the French-based Michelin Tire Company should have been given to Firestone Canada in an effort to save 650 jobs at the latter's Whitby plant ac- cording to union officiais. Whitby's Firestone plant is scheduled to close down on July 18. Unions officiais claimed that the company may have reconsidered its decision to close the plant if the $42 million grant had been of- fered to them. That fedaeral grant was made to Michelin Tires of Canada Ltd. and will be in- vested in a $400 million project that is expected to create over 1,800 jobs. The Nova Scotia government is also expected to kick in an additional $14 million into the projeet. The company plans to ex- pand two of its Nova Scotia plants and then build an en- tirely new one at Waterville. The vice-president of Firestone's local of the United Rubber Workers, Stan Lepine, said that the union is "'very, very, disap- pointed" by the federal governments actions. "There wasn't any en- thusiam on the part of the Liberal and Conservative politicians to general any activity for Firestone," Lepine said claiming that the company would have reconsidered the decision to close because of the size of the aid package. bion Fighting Speciai