Steelworkers welcome C&C Wood Products to Carrot River and Hudson Bay
operations

PRINCE ALBERT, SK, Nov. 26 /CNW/ - The United Steelworkers (USW) local union that holds the trade union certifications for forest products operations in Hudson Bay and Carrot River, which have just been purchased by C&C Wood Products, greets the BC-based company's official arrival in Saskatchewan.

USW Local 1-184 president Paul Hallen says the takeover of the both former Weyerhaeuser operations - a sawmill in Carrot River and plywood mill in Hudson Bay - provides C&C Wood Products and the USW an excellent opportunity to work together in a co-operative way to achieve a safe and efficient start up of operations in a timely manner.

Hallen has congratulated the company on its purchase and looks forward to a positive working relationship. Over 300 USW Local 1-184 members were employed at the operations.

Kris Hayman , the company's vice-president of sales and marketing, has told the media that the company is excited to get into the operations to work with the people in the area to re-establish the mills.

Hallen says that C&C has access to a skilled and experienced workforce and a solid supply of softwood timber.

Weyerhaeuser and C&C will have access to the Pasquia-Porcupine Forest Management Agreement under a cooperative agreement. Weyerhaeuser will continue to use hardwoods for its OSB 2000 oriented strandboard operations in Hudson Bay, where the local union represents 100 workers.

"The appearance of C&C Wood Products is a welcomed development and a vote of confidence for the future of forest-dependent communities," says Hallen. "We extend our welcome to C&C and look forward to working with them."

The USW is Canada's largest industrial union with over 250,000 workers in all sectors of the economy.

For further information: Paul Hallen, [phone] or [phone]