Forestry

WINDSOR—With fists raised and voices roaring, thousands of Unifor members, labour leaders, and allies surged into Windsor’s Riverfront Festival Plaza on April 26 in a powerful show of defiance against U.S. President Donald Trump’s assault on Canadian jobs.

“This is the fight of our lives,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “They are not [Trump’s] jobs to take. They are Canadian jobs. They are Unifor jobs, and we are going to do whatever we have to do to defend them and protect them.”

ESPANOLA, Ont.—Unifor is repeating its call for all three levels of government to urgently develop an industrial plan for the forestry sector following the proposed sale of Domtar’s long-curtailed Espanola pulp and paper mill.

Unifor’s Forestry Council Executive Committee members met this week at the national office and were joined by National leadership to discuss the ongoing tariff threat to Canadian forestry, pulp and paper and lumber members. 

The seven members of the Forestry Executive, with representatives from across Canada, met in Toronto on March 25 to consider the latest developments in the ongoing trade war and the softwood lumber dispute, both of which represent existential threats to forestry workers and communities from coast-to-coast-to-coast. 

🍁 Our jobs. Our mills. Our communities. Our country. 

Unifor National President Lana Payne and Quebec Director Daniel Cloutier tell us how Unifor is fighting for forestry jobs. 

KAMLOOPS, B.C.—Unifor Local 10-B members at Kruger in Kamloops, B.C., ratified a new four-year collective agreement with 91% approval that will set the pattern for negotiations across the Western Pulp and Paper Caucus.

TORONTO—A new executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump to launch a s. 232 (National Security) investigation into wood products imported into the United States is a direct threat to Canadian softwood lumber and downstream wood products, placing thousands of jobs across Canada at risk.

SAINT JOHN–Unifor is disappointed and frustrated by Irving Paper’s communication that 104 members will be laid off in 45 days, with the union committing to fight to prevent job losses.

“My thoughts right now are with the families who are digesting this news tonight and are feeling uncertain about their futures,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “Unifor will continue pushing for a smart industrial strategy for forestry that supports these good jobs across New Brunswick and prepares the sector for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”

ST. JOHN’S—Unifor participated in Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey’s trade roundtable’s most recent meeting today, calling for swift action to protect workers, particularly in the province’s trade-exposed sectors like oil and gas, forestry and the fishery.

VANCOUVER—Two of the country’s largest pulp and paper unions, Unifor and the Public and Private Workers of Canada (PPWC), have selected Kruger, Inc. in Kamloops, B.C. as the target to establish pattern bargaining across the forestry sector in Western Canada.