Canfor And Steelworkers Reach Tentative Deal

By 250 News

Prince George, B.C. - The Chair of the United Steelworkers' BC Wood Council is calling a tentative deal with Canfor, 'unprecedented' in the history of collective bargaining in the B.C. forest industry.

In Prince George today to announce the just-reached agreement, Bob Matters says, "Despite the fact the forest industry has experienced its worst financial crisis in history, we have reached an agreement that I would characterize as 'unique and innovative'."

Matters says, for the first time, wording has been included in the package on the issues of: seniority protection, severance protection, and employment security, in general.

The United Steelworkers' 11,000 members in B.C. have been without a contract since the end of June 30, 2009.  In reporting progress with Canfor earlier this week, the bargaining committee had said collective agreement language was needed on both permanent and partial closures to "prevent employers from simply running their workers out of seniority and then announcing a permanent closure of their operation to avoid the payment of severance."

Matters says, while this has not been the case with Canfor, it was important for the union to secure the language in this agreement, as it will now form the template for negotiations between the union and its other employers.

Matters says the proposed deal will be discussed with union members before its term and full details will be released.  He does say it offers the potential for significant pay increases down the road.  He is confident the membership will be buoyed by the history-making job security terms.

This deal would cover local 1-424 members here, local 1-405 members in Radium, and local 1-417 members in Vavenby.  Matters expects a ratification vote will be held in a few weeks time.

Email | Print | Facebook | Twitter | Digg | Del.icio.us