John French
[email protected]
International Forest Products (Interfor)'s pullout from 樱桃视频is now almost complete with an agreement reached this week between the company and its logging crew that will see a private company take over logging in Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 38.
Interfor's departure started with the announcement last year of a significant reduction in TFL 38 operations, followed by the announcement of the permanent closure of the 樱桃视频Lumber sawmill.
The company's unionized loggers met on Monday (April 25) and voted to accept a severance deal. Specific details of the deal were not available as of The Chief's press deadline.
IWA Canada local 2-171 president Darrel Wong said the details of the agreement were presented to the Interfor logging crew of about 45 workers for consideration before a vote was taken. Wong said the money going to the loggers is coming from the Forest Revitalization Fund.
In addition to the lost Interfor jobs, Wong said a number of contractor jobs will also be lost.
"Not very many people are happy about it," Wong said of the deal. According to the union leader, the workers felt they had no choice but to accept the severance offer.
"We're at a point where the Empire Logging operation is now being permanently closed."
Wong said the discussions on the future of the Interfor logging operations in 樱桃视频started some time ago and it took many months before this agreement was reached.
Interfor bought the rights to TFL 38 from Weldwood in 1995. At its height the company employed more than 100 loggers and 185 sawmill workers in Squamish.
Wong blamed the provincial government a number of times for the loss of the Interfor logging jobs in 樱桃视频during his interview with The Chief.
"The government decision to remove 20 per cent of the fibre from all of the licensees and then giving them the power to dictate where the fibre will come from has created a great deal of difficulty for the loggers and their families," Wong said.
Wong predicts 1,100 loggers in BC are going to lose their jobs due to government policy. He said his union tried to suggest other methods of dealing with the challenges faced by the logging industry on the coast but Wong said the government wasn't listening.
There will be some logging activity in TFL 38 but the work will be done by Elaho Logging, said Wong. A limited number of Interfor loggers will work with Elaho for a period Wong expects to last until mid-July.
"The majority of the crew at 樱桃视频have been in 樱桃视频for the majority of their lives," Wong said. "A number of them are second and third generation loggers.
"It is another [expletive] disappointment in my opinion. It is happening all over the coast."
Harry Barrett, Interfor's Campbell River-based manager of TFL 38, confirmed just before The Chief's press deadline that work in the TFL will be done by Elaho Logging Ltd. Barrett said Interfor loggers, road builders, dryland sort workers and maintenance workers were all let go by his company.
