Good jobs restored in Northern BC with pulp mill re-opening

CHETWYND, BC, July 7, 2015 /CNW/ - Over one hundred good jobs in Chetwynd have been created by the re-opening of the pulp mill that was closed in July 2012.

Paper Excellence Canada Holding Corporation (PE) purchased the mill from Tembec in 2014 and has been undertaking maintenance to restore operations.

"We're proud to have been a part of a process to create good resource jobs," said Joie Warnock, Unifor Western Director. "BC's pulp industry has struggled because our export policy kills Canadian jobs, but hopefully this re-opening can lead a trend in the industry."

Unifor was able to negotiate a new collective agreement with PE that approximates the industry pattern for wages and benefits.

"The government has placed all of its eggs in the basket of liquefied natural gas extraction," said Warnock. "But in the pulp sector, this is just the tip of the iceberg if the BC government began to take resource jobs seriously."

Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector, representing more than 305,000 workers. It was formed Labour Day weekend 2013 when the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers unions merged.

SOURCE Unifor

please contact Unifor Communications Representative Ian Boyko at 778-903-6549 (cell) or [email protected]