Forestry

VANCOUVER—British Columbia's forestry workers will take part in the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference as part of a campaign to strengthen and secure good paying jobs in the industry.

“Dozens of local governments across the province are experiencing the difficulties of the forestry industry’s contraction,” said Unifor Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle. “We invite municipal leadership to be a part of the solution.”

On May 30, Unifor Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle joined Local 10-B President Sheldon Morice and 1st Vice President Wes Mitchell for a tour of the Kruger pulp mill in Kamloops, B.C.

While in Kamloops, McGarrigle and Unifor leaders met with Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson, City Councillor Katie Neustaeter, and Kruger management to discuss the mill’s struggles with a regular economic access to fibre with which to run the mill. Kruger’s facility is not alone in its fibre supply troubles:

Unifor Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle met with Minister of State for Sustainable Forestry Innovation Andrew Mercier and Local 592 and 686 leadership to tour the Paper Excellence Port Alberni facility on May 23, 2024. The Paper Excellence mill provides specialty products and good union jobs for the whole region.

On March 12, 2024, forestry workers from three unions convened for a summit to address the crisis in the industry and to develop sustainable solutions centred around job preservation. This meeting was unprecedented and signifies a new phase in the forestry workers' efforts to prevent the industry's collapse.

VICTORIA—Rank-and-file forestry workers, union leaders, policymakers, and researchers gathered to hash out solutions to the crisis facing British Columbia’s forestry industry during a policy summit on March 12 in Victoria.

The summit, jointly hosted by Unifor, the United Steelworkers union (USW), and the Public and Private Workers of Canada (PPWC), was an unprecedented gathering of workers who have experienced firsthand the many mill closures and related job losses in an industry that was once world-renowned.

After years of decline, it’s time for a united effort to help workers and communities.

By Gavin McGarrigle, Scott Lunny

Unions representing workers in Quebec's forestry sector say the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts (MRNF) is going in the wrong direction for forestry sector consutlations.

Unifor, United Steelworkers, the Centrale des syndicats démocratiques (CSD) and the Fédération de l'industrie manufacturière (FIM-CSN) were united in their denounciation of the MRNF’s process announced during a press conference held on February 7 in Saguenay Quebec.

VANCOUVER-Unifor is calling for an immediate response by all levels of government to support the Vancouver Island forestry sector following Paper Excellence’s announcement to curtail operations at its Crofton pulp mill indefinitely.

“An indefinite curtailment is an immeasurable loss for too many workers and their families who deserve so much better from Paper Excellence,” said National President Lana Payne. “These companies must be held to account and Canada and B.C. must support a value-added forestry industry that creates good, union jobs for generations to come.”