In wake of Merritt layoffs, USW president calls on federal government for help

“This operation has had a lot of shutdowns over the last three-to-six months,” said Gibbons. “The workers have been – I hate to say it – about 50 per cent employed. So this was not a real huge surprise, and honestly kind of reflective of what we have been living.”

Tolko and Canfor are among the forestry companies that have also recently announced mill shutdowns or slowdowns. Gibbons says the current situation has been building for a long time.

“This crisis did not just develop today or this year. We are here because of decades of mismanagement of our forests. With shrinking allowable cuts, forest fires, bug kills, we’ve seen a timber crunch coming in the Interior for a while. Unfortunately though, under decades of mismanagement, it’s workers who are now going to suffer,” said Gibbons.

“Every forestry operation in British Columbia has been affected to one degree or another,” he continued. “Our Canfor Vavenby operation has been down for seven weeks this year so far. West Fraser Chasm in Clinton has been down for six weeks. Forest workers are hurting.”

Gibbons is calling on the federal government to step in with assistance, as it has for other industries.

“It seems like forest workers are basically ignored. We look at a lot of what’s happening with the oil industry and the federal government’s support for them and as forest workers, although we seem to be in the middle of a crisis, we certainly aren’t being helped,” said Gibbons.

“Timber is being transferred out of our communities and the government has sat back and allowed companies to run the forests as they see fit.”

by James Peters / Jill Sperling

In wake of Merritt layoffs, USW president calls on federal government for help

Our Community