SUDBURY, Ont. — NDP MP Paul Dewar is hosting a fundraiser for workers who lost their jobs after an American company shut its plant in London, Ont., following a long labour dispute.

About 450 employees who were locked out a month ago lost their jobs at the Electro-Motive plant on Friday after the decision by owner and heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT).

Dewar, who is a NDP leadership candidate, has tweeted that $2,500 will be going to the now out-of-work employees.

He says the fundraising concert is a show of solidarity with the Electro-Motive employees and is urging people to ask the Prime Minister to defend Canadian jobs.

The fundraiser is being co-hosted by NDP MPs Charlie Angus, Claude Gravelle, and Glenn Thibeault at the Townehouse bar in Sudbury, Ont.

Caterpillar subsidiary Progress Rail Services said Friday that the cost structure at the London plant was unsustainable, even though Caterpillar last week reported a 58 per cent increase in its quarterly earnings with a record profit of nearly $5 billion.