Unions Call For Forestry Summit

By 250 News

    Unions representing the mill workers impacted by the permanent and temporary shutdowns announced yesterday by Abitibi-Bowater are working towards a conference that will bring together the employer, the communities and the two senior levels of government.

The union leaders call the cuts and layoffs in the forestry sector, "the biggest single jobs crisis ever faced in one sector."

United Steelworkers Local 1-424 President, Frank Everitt, says over the past four years, 30 mills have closed in B.C., and nationwide, 20,000 workers have lost their jobs. “There are other workers who are now on a four day work week and in the Burns Lake area, they are down to just three days a week” says Everitt.

Since May, Mackenzie has been given notice of the loss of 1,000 jobs, Mills in the Prince George area will start off 2008 with 350 fewer employees than they started off with in 2007. Moricetown’s joint venture mill with Canfor closed on the 16^th of November, putting nearly 80 people out of work, Fort St. James has been shut down for 7 weeks leaving 280 people without work.  In Terrace, the West Fraser Mill there shut down a month ago, putting another 100 people out of work.  That's more than 1800  people off the job with  no  word on when, or if, their employee will call them back.

The President of the Communications Energy and Pulp Workers Union Dave Coles, says all stakeholders have got to get involved “The forest industry is in crisis which means hundreds of communities in the heartland of Canada are suffering and it is time for dramatic action. It is time for the bleeding to stop. This is a renewable resource that should be keeping Canadians at work, not putting them on the scrap heap.”

Coles says there needs to be a national strategy for forestry that will help workers, industry and communities rejuvenate the sector through creation of value added jobs from the resource.

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