Union Brass Talking Forestry

By 250 News

Prince George, B.C.-  The District Director of Area 3 of the United Steel Workers says 50,000 jobs have been affected by the collapse of the lumber industry in this province.

Steve Hunt, (shown in photo at right) says 10,000 direct jobs have been lost , but if you factor the workers needed to look after the industry and the figures climb by five times. People who work at 7-11 says Hunt, “don’t buy new pickups”.

Touring the province along with the President of CUPE, Barry O’Neill, Hunt told about 40 people gathered at a meeting last night in Prince George he recently watched raw logs crossing the border near Creston heading to US mills. “Companies such as Canfor have bought up saw mills as a way to circumvent the duties.”

In the old days Hunt says, “You had a social contract with the company; in return for the trees they manufactured lumber and jobs in that region”.

We are still selling lumber in the US says Hunt, maybe not as much but there is still a market.

“CANFOR and INTERFOR have spent $330 million in buying up mills in the US. They are producing lumber with the dollars we handed them in the duties that were returned. We are losing our sovereignty in this country over the woods industry” Hunt says.

Now what has government done?  The director told the meeting the province will lose $1 billion dollars from the forest industry this year and if that money doesn’t come from forestry then where will it come from.?

“This is the worst crisis in the forest industry that we have ever seen” says Hunt, “Look at Mackenzie, 70% of the people in that community are laid off. 5 of the Councilors from the town are laid off.”

Forestry, Hunt says , is the number one industry in this province “And if we lose that it will have a profound effect.”

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