Employees Complete Training for New Babine Mill
Burns Lake, B.C. – United Steelworkers Local 1-424 says its Northern Skills Training pilot project, made possible through a Labour Market Agreement between the Federal and Provincial Government, has completed the training for 24 Babine Forest Products employees.
The union says the training was developed in cooperation with Hampton Affiliates, owners of the Burns Lake Mill, and formed part of the effort to get the employees trained to work in the new high tech mill. “The objective was to not only to prepare employees for the advanced technology used in the Mill but build their confidence to adapt to this modern operation”, said Terry Tate program coordinator for the Northern Skills Training pilot project.
The union says it partnered with the Mill to make sure the training was relevant to the needs of both the new operation and employees. Under the partnership Babine Forest Products covered the full cost of the employee wages while attending training over three and half days.
Comments
Twenty four? How many worked there before the fire?
Not my area of expertise, but I think this would only apply to the production crew in the new sawmill, not the maintenance crew, or the crew working in the log yard, or planer mill?
Still, I think the new technology used in this new mill, cut a few production jobs. I think “B” shift alone consisted of nearly 20 people at the time of the mill explosion. Rest their souls.
The new mill will likely have a ‘shake down’ period before it is able to ramp up to its full capacity, and quite likely that period will initially only involve running one shift.
When the first crew is fully conversant with actually operating the new equipment then they can more readily introduce additional shifts, utilising the familiarity of those trained first, and who have then been actually operating the equipment, to help train the additional crews needed for multiple shifts.
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