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secretary Brian Harder (r.)

Fraser Mills

continued from page nine

Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre. Workers signed a petition calling for government assistance in stepping in to find logs for the mill or force Interfor to sell it.

“We have to hold any government, whether it’s the NDP or the Liberals, accountable,” said Ghag. “We’re talking about 300 mill jobs and another 300-400 logging jobs here.”

Ghag noted that many Fraser Mills workers voted Liberal and supported Campbell.

“Whether they did or didn’t is irrelevant,” he said. “They (the Liberals) are elected to represent British Columbians and all British Columbians.”

Brother Harder said the union is also waiting for the government and the Ministry of Forests to investigate appurtanancy clause(s) which tie

At the rally for the Fraser Mills petition

timber rights to Fraser Mills.

“Workers and their communities need some light shed on the Fraser Mills situation and its relation to the ‘Great Bear Rainforest”, said Mr. Harder. “Fraser Mills is a cost- effective operation. We have to get to the bottom of this case. Our members and the public deserve nothing less than a full investigation of the company’s harvesting rights, harvesting volumes and legal obligations to the province.”

“And indeed if the ‘Great Bear Rainforest’ impact is supposed to result in a log shortage, we should know exactly what that shortage amounts to,” he added.

“If Interfor can’t run the mill then they should sell it to another company that will.”

Harder said the government should put people ahead of bears and said that environmentalists “will not be happy until they shut down the whole (forest) industry down.”

were I.W.A. Local 1-3567 president Sonny Ghag (1.) and local financial

And Harder said that if the ‘Great Bear Rainforest’ is a decisive factor in any mill closure, it should be canceled.

He compensation package for workers

also noted that

any affected by the “Great Bear Rainforest” decision must be enhanced.

He said that during the campaign, Gordon Campbell said it should be increased.“At the end of the day he (Campbell) needs to live up to that,” he said.

But the local’s position is to save the mill first.“People that work there need the jobs and so does the community and the union,” said Harder. “The forest industry is what drives the economy of B.C.”

Brother Ghag said that Interfor has a senior workforce at Fraser Mills that the company wants to sever.

The average age is 53. Some are second and third generation woodworkers.

The union also questions the fact that in March of this year Interfor paid $123 million to take over Primex Forest Products which is involved in five coast operations. |

“For a company to spend this kind of money to buy two mills that have no logs and then come to the I.W.A. and say ‘we’re shutting down Fraser Mills because of no logs’ — it’s totally unbelievable,” said Ghag.

He predicted that Interfor would back down from closing Fraser Mills if the government threatens to revoke its timber rights.

Plant chairman Don Samson told the Lumberworker that Interfor has only offered to keep about people fifty people working by running a planer and a dry-kiln system on the site.

He said a closure of Fraser Mills just doesn’t make economic sense.

“It sure surprised me. You have a mill that can run 2x4, 2x6, 2x8 whitewood and cedar,” he said, claiming that every test run of logs and lumber that Fraser Mills has recently run through has come out with higher quality and lower production costs than other mills.

It has two head rigs and a chip and saw. The actual mill machinery is only 19 years old.

“If they (Interfor) want to negotiate for more machinery and fewer jobs they should let us know,” he said.

Brother Samson pointed out that the company started up two of five new dry kilns on the day of the closure announcement. They stopped work on the other three kilns.

“These guys don’t make these decisions in a day or two — they do (make plans) over 4-5 years,” he added, underscoring the union’s

doubts about the rash decision to close the mill. a

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Canada-U.S. dispute

continued from page seven

IN THE NORTHERN B.C. INTERIOR

Local 1-424 president Fred Carroll told the Lumberworker that they haven’t heard much of anything yet.

“I think everyone’s just batting down the hatches to see what transpires when the final (CVD) decision comes down,” he said.

Canfor which runs 10 mills in the local employing some 1,500 Local 1- 424 members, says it is simply going

to run the mills harder and more efficient.

Slocan is not saying anything.

“I think the American consumers are going to help win this war for us — they don’t want to be stuck buying southern yellow pine,” said Carroll. Local 1-424 has about 5,000 members in the sawmill sector.

In Williams Lake Local 1-425,

. president Wade Fisher said there are not any major layoffs yet.

“So far we’re running but we’ve had a delay in starting up an extra shift at one operation (Riverside, Williams Lake),” he said.

Fisher said companies have started a detailed analysis of what price they can sell lumber at with the CVD in place.

Unlike many other locals in the 1.W.A., Local 1-425 has fared better since the downturn in lumber markets started in 1997.

He said highly efficient mills with loyal customer bases has made a difference.

Brother Fisher wasn’t.surprised at the size of the CVD. “Free trade doesn’t exist,” he said. “The Americans talk out of both sides of their face. It’s very worrisome when

you see them bully Canada like they are doing.”

ON THE PRAIRIE PROVINCES

Alberta Local 1-207 president Mike Pisak said there is no indication yet on employment impacts but that those “are always a possibility.”

Canfor’s sawmill in Hines Creek is one of the most efficient the company has. Weyerhaeuser Drayton Valley and Grande Cache are running as normal as are Tolko High Level and Weldwood Hinton bush crews.

“Right now we have to wait and see,” said Pisak. “If something isn’t done, a couple of mills in our local could be seriously affected.”

Saskatchewan Local 1-184 president Paul Hallen said there’s no impact to date but expressed similar concern. Having been exempt from the 1996-2001 Softwood Lumber Quota Agreement between Canada and the U.S., now Saskatchewan is in the same boat as most of the rest of the country.

The dominant player in the province, Weyerhaeuser, is completing a wood fibre optimization study in the province — the results of which will influence how the company views the viability of its operations.

That review, combined with the softwood tariff, may have important impacts, said Brother Hallen.

The union is certified to Weyco sawmills in Big River and Carrot River, the Norsask mill in Meadow Lake and the Wapaweeka sawmill near Prince Albert, a jointly owned operation between Weyco and the

foodland Cree Indian bands.

Manitoba Local 324 is also very concerned about the future impact of the CVD and potential antidumping charges. During the petied of the Canada - U.S. Softwood

umber Quota agreement, which expired at the end of March, Manitoba was free to ship as much tariff wood as it wanted. Not any more.

Tolko, which has a major sawmill in The Pas, is waiting for the antidumping shoe to drop before it decides what to do.

The local is kicking off negotiations with Tolko in early October and is concerned whether or not the company will try to stall negotiations.

Elsewhere there have been some layoffs at Neepawa Lumber in Neepawa but it is not known if it is related to the CVD.

IN THE ONTARIO INDUSTRY

In the north of Ontario, Local 2693 president Joe Hanlon said that nothing major has happened yet.

“If it (the CVD) continues to stay on for a long period of time I would imagine there’s going to be an impact,” he said. The local has heard from a couple of employers who say they are working hard to “ensure a free market.”

Buchanan Forest Products is a major employer in the local with mills in McKenzie, Atikokan, Nakina and Dubreilville. Domtar’s White River operation is running and the opening of the sawmill in Ignace is still proceeding.

Many of the local union’s loggers

cut both pulp and saw logs and stand a greater chance of maintaining employment than those who cut just sawlogs. Some companies have worked out the exchange of logs for chips. Local 2995 president Damien Roy told the Lumberworker that all its Tembec mills were running on reduced shifts at press time. The company has operations in Hearst, Timmins, Kirkland Lake, Cochrane and a 50 per cent interest in Excel Forest Products in Opasatika. However the Tri-Cept planing mill in Hearst is running on one shift as Excel is selling less wood from it.

“We are concerned about the countervail duty,” he said. “We are

concerned there could be more layoffs.” The local hasn’t heard any negative news yet from Domtar in Timmins and Chapleau, Lecours in Calstock, Olav Havelshrud jv Hornepayne or Weyerhaeuser in Chapleau. we

In Local 1000, president Joe da Costa said “we hayen’t felt it (the effects of the CVD) yet or are we expecting to in the near future. But we may not be completely immune to it.”

His local has only one mill, the Tembec sawmill in Mattawa, that cuts predominately hardwood but runs softwood part of the year, like other mills in north central Ontario.

Brother da Costa said the tariff action is from “a powerful pro-

tectionist nation which has no re; for the true meaning of free trade.” IN NEW BRUNSWICK

I.W.A. Canada Local 306 is negotiating is with Lakeburn Lumber, a 50 man sawmill that the union organized in October, 2000. Its wood supply comes from private lands, which is being exempted from the CVD by the Americans.

Lumber mills in the province are ramping up production. The local has been in negotiations with the company since early April for a first collective a; ent.

On September 10 both sides will be ae with a mediator.

“They (Lakeburn representatives) don’t really want to say it (the CVD exemption) is to their benefit but before that decision neta out they were saying ‘everything is hingi on the softwood jumber tariff” Roe they have no comments,” said local union president Pat Hi 5

Brother Hogan said that all areas of Canada must be treated equally, and that the country must seek free and fair trade in lumber with the United States.

RR 40/LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 2001