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Unifor Atlantic Regional Director Jennifer Murray, Atlantic Area Director Mike MacMullin and Forestry Director Ian Hutchison met with several representatives from the New Brunswick government to discuss supporting good jobs in the province and the need to avoid future layoffs due to escalating energy costs.
“We are thankful to the New Brunswick ministers who met with Unifor, as the voice of tens of thousands of workers in the province,” said Unifor Atlantic Regional Director Jennifer Murray. “New Brunswickers are trusting this government to develop industrial strategies that create and support good jobs and we expressed that we need these ministries to approach their work with a ‘people first’ mentality.”
Murray, MacMullin and Hutchison were joined by New Brunswick Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Finance René Legacy, Minister of Environment Gilles LePage, Minister of Labour Allyson Townsend, Minister of Natural Resources John Herron, and Minister for Opportunities N.B. Luke Randall.
The meeting is a continuation of the union’s efforts to push the federal and provincial governments to lead the development of industrial strategies that will Protect Canadian Jobs by encouraging sector-wide strategic investment, make the most of government supports, and realign local, regional and national economies to the shifting markets.
Read the letter Murray and Unifor National President Lana Payne and sent to Premier Holt about opportunities to create a comprehensive and coordinated plan for New Brunswick’s future.
“New Brunswick is a forestry province, and obviously that sector is one we are particularly focused on growing and supporting here,” said Hutchison. “We can never assume jobs will create themselves and workers’ voices are crucial to building good quality, family-supporting jobs.”
The union has also scheduled an upcoming meeting with the NB Power Review team.
In April 2025, more than 100 Unifor Local 601N and Local 907 members at Irving Paper in Saint John, N.B., were laid off as the company cited escalating energy costs.
“Workers have told us they want answers from NB Power and from the government about how they plan to create energy sustainability and avoid future layoffs related to rising energy costs,” said MacMullin. “Unifor is here to act as a voice for working people in this province and we are hopeful our discussions will lead to more worker-focused policies and plans.”
Unifor represents more than 12,100 workers in New Brunswick in forestry, telecommunications, airline, marine and rail transportation, grocery, retail, hospitality and more.
Read more about the union’s efforts to Protect Canadian Jobs at ProtectJobs.ca and its specific focus on the Fight for Forestry Jobs at unifor.org/forestry.
