Prince George, B.C.- The Rapid Response Team’s survey of more than 1500 forestry workers  has wrapped up with  a final report that puts forth five recommendations to provincial and federal government reps.

The report dealt with four areas, Prince George, the North East ( Fort Nelson, Ft. St. John and Chetwynd) the Northwest, ( Smithers, Burns Lake, Houston and Ft.St. James) and Mackenzie.

 

Workers in all four areas, gave strong support for indicated they would like to have an assessment done of their transferable skills to see how their current skills could be used in other jobs or sectors. Workers in Prince George showed strong support (43%) for personal financial planning.

 

The first of the five recommendations calls for a concerted effort to reduce the perception that the forest industry in the north is dead.   Rapid response Team Member Terry Tate of the United Steelworkers, Local 1-424 says such is not the case “We’ve got mills that are hiring, but they can’t because they can’t find the people.”

 

Tate says just a few days ago he got a call from a fellow who landed a job in Tumbler Ridge who said he had been called by the mill to come back to work but the man opted to go ahead with the move to Tumbler because he believes the forest industry is dead. “We’re hearing a lot of that, a lot of young people are leaving the industry to seek work elsewhere, so we are losing, through the lack of our own promotion, qualified workers. Yes we went through a tough time and some mills shut down, or cut back. The industry is not dead, it is evolving.”

 

Tate says when the industry comes out of the slump and everyone expects there to be an “upswing, it won’t happen because there won’t be qualified people to do the work.

As the industry evolves, workers will be required to upgrade their skills as new technologies come on stream.

 

The other recommendations are:

 

2. Additional service for displaced wand job threatened workers be added in impacted communities. Current Service Canada Employment Assistance Programs do not have the capacity or the ability under contract rules to provide the amount of assistance in career decision making that this group needs

 

3. The work force is aging and there needs to be effort put into succession planning. The report recommends there be an asset inventory with the support of industry, be undertaken to develop a more in-depth profile of the current skills of forest workers. Many workers stated they didn’t believe they had any skills that could be transferred to another sector.

 

4. Develop a communication plan for the region. There is a need for current and timely information on services and changes to government programs. The Rapid Response Team is seen as a first point of contact by both workers and community agencies. There should be a website developed that links all of the northern service providers who are on the front line in terms of knowing what is happening in their communities.

 

5. That a tacking system be developed and used to follow up on workers and track results. Many people obtained work through the efforts of the Rapid response Team, however, the information is anecdotal in nature. The gathering of statistics would be helpful to gauge the programs success.

 

What’s next?

 

Tate is hopeful the survey results will help the different levels of government in the development of new initiatives and new programs. “We hope it will generate innovative ideas for workers who are displaced and those who need upgraded skills.” He says if the governments put money into programs for people who are on the job and need skills upgrades, that boosts confidence in the industry “ Workers say well, if you’re putting money into me, then I guess there is some truth to the rumour the industry is alive and well.”