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Chetwynd Sawmill May Start Up in Spring

By 250 News

Monday, November 30, 2009 01:59 PM

Prince George   B.C.- There are efforts underway to restart the Canfor sawmill in Chetwynd.
 
Closed   in April of 2008, the shut down impacted 188 employees at the mill.  
 
There is a proposal to pump nearly $15 million dollars into the mill for retooling. A wage and benefit package proposal has been presented to the union and the membership has voted 73% in favour of accepting a 20% cut in wages ( about $5.00 an hour). Benefits would not be changed. 
 
The plan calls for the mill to be restarted in the spring with one shift to start, employing  about 65 people.
 
The final decision on this plan lies with the Board of Directors for Canfor which will asked to make a decision on the proposal December 15th.
 
Canfor spokesperson, Dave LeFebvre  says  the  Chetwynd  plan is a result of all stakeholders coming together.  "There  was a meeting with employees in October, and following that we started working with the union and  we put together  a proposal which the employees have ratified."   There  are other   factors in the decision such as the muntain pine beetle kill in the Chetwynd area,  reduced fibre costs and  increased tax relief.
LeFebvre says if the Board of Directors approves the  business plan,   then the Chetwynd mill  would  likely reopen in late May.
 

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Posted on Monday, November 30, 2009 01:59 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Comment Posted by: Mercenary on November 30 2009 3:24 PM
Lets hope they get it going again.
Comment Posted by: Eagleone on November 30 2009 4:25 PM
Good news and good to see everyone agreeing on a plan to keep their mill running. Hopefully the wage cuts were a short term gesture by the employees and not a long term commitment? An example of how to keep the mill running, rather than sell it off to the Chinese....
Comment Posted by: askrik on November 30 2009 7:15 PM
Worked with those great people at that mill for several years, it's great news for them.
Sounds like big changes for the planer mill to turn it into a stud mill. For the workers who are left to return some awesome news!!!
Comment Posted by: jonnypg on December 1 2009 10:37 AM
Nice to see the lumber prices going up in that little USW box at the top of the page!
Comment Posted by: metalman on December 1 2009 4:57 PM
Good news, and good on the membership for agreeing to a cutback in order to maybe get some employment happening. They should be able to get their wages increased in a future contract if the industry ever picks up again.
metalman.