Cariboo Mill Operator Closes Shop in Manitoba

Saturday, January 21, 2006 09:21 AM

Effective Monday morning, 562 direct employees will be out of work as Tolko Industries Ltd. closes its logging, sawmill and Kraft paper operations in The Pas, Manitoba.

The decision was made by board members who gathered yesterday at the company's sales headquarters in Vernon. Tolko Industries has operations in Quesnel, Williams Lake, Cache Creek and Ashcroft.

Lumber and Plywood operations Vice-President, Mike Harkies, says that despite valiant efforts by many stakeholders, the level of financial stability required to maintain the operations in The Pas could not be reached. "This is definitely not the outcome we were seeking and we sincerely thank those stakeholders who participated and were prepared to partner with us."

OSB & Kraft Papers Vice-President and General Manager, Rick Huff, says the key piece missing from the plan was the participation of members of CEP Local 1403. "It's unfortunate that they didn't believe the seriousness of the financial losses and recognize that without their support, the Board wasn't willing to continue the operations."

Huff says, "We understand the impact of this closure on our employees, contractors, the community and all stakeholders, sometimes, however, hard decisions need to be made to ensure Tolko remains competitive."

Tolko Industries Ltd. is a private, Canadian-owned company employing approximately 5,000 people in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
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Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 09:21 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: McDuck on January 21 2006 1:31 PM

Conspiracy Theory?
Canfor and Tolko partnership.

http://www.tolko.com/news/releases/jun3_2005.php

Tolko Industries, when the profits are not high enough to satisfy the shareholders, they close down the operation, negatively effecting a whole community. No social responsibility here. Canfor, buying a wood product company in the US that is a member of the US Coalition hoping to receive a part of the over 5 billion in tarifs ripped off from itself and other Canadian wood exporters to the US. No ethics here.

The corporate world, with it takeovers and mergers, do they serve the public interest by creating economic instability at the stroke of a pen?

I can bet that neither of these two companies qualify to be on the list of any ethical investment fund.

Posted by: Chadermando on January 22 2006 2:58 AM

McDuck, normally I wouldn't argue your points, but today I will.

From my perspective Canfor are the good guys for the time being.

On Friday Canfor requested permission to ammend our contract with them that is not due for another year in order to give us a 10% raise effective December 31st 2005. Canfor did not have to do this as we are currently under contract for another year. 10% retroactive raise is no small chump change.

The arguement is that this is needed to retain qualified contractor employees. I would second that arguement and in fact made the case for that arguement. I'm glad they agreed. In a year I'm sure this will go a long way to negotiating a new contract with Canfor.

Time Will Tell

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on January 22 2006 8:29 AM

McDuck - we need you, or at least any money you have.
It is shareholders like you that worked hard for their savings and are willing to put their money into operation that show no likelyhood of making any money. If the investment goes bust so what - you were a great shareholder and can die broke and proud that others liked your money as much as you might have. I like you, do you want to invest in a well used snowmobile?

Posted by: McDuck on January 22 2006 10:34 AM

Chadermando - I am happy to hear that Canfor is putting a 10% wage increase on the table. Share the wealth. One point for them. I am not saying Canfor is a "bad" company. I just don't want them to become corrupt. Are they becoming too big for their brithces, maybe? Are they following the example of American companies, by expanding their assets, power and control over the globe to become a monopoly, like Wal-mart who buys products from China, paying poor wages over there, wiping out North American producers at the expense of their own country?

I am actually proud of Canfor, I just want them to be Canadain, ethical, and show good manners. That's what we are known for.

If we were naive and innnocent, it's different than knowing and ignoring the consequences of our behaviours. But, we are not innocent. We live in the information age. We know coffee producers, for example, hardly make enough money to support their families in the countries that provide coffee to North America. Can we live with that? They are people and citizens too. They are worthy of our respect and concern for them.

Overall, the world is proud of Canada, let's not jeopardize that. We have more to offer than economic weatlh. We have sense and sensiblity that in a world that is torn apart by wars and terrorism, we can help by example to resolve the disparities and inqualities that underlay the problems they experience.

Posted by: McDuck on January 22 2006 11:35 AM

Yamadoopolcat -- you missed the point. When I invest, I check out the company, researching what they are up to. On your offer on the snowmobile, I would check out the registration and research to see if it was stolen. Don't take it personal. It's about being responsible and Canadian.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on January 23 2006 7:47 AM

Right.. So you would close the mill in Manitoba also. Or at least not invest in it. Good thinking.