Campbell River, British Columbia: LKSM has been working to bring closure to the strike, which began on June 6, 2025, in a way that supports strong, positive, and enduring relationships between First Nations and other participants in the forestry sector in their territories and allows everyone to move forward together.

Despite LKSM’s repeated efforts to achieve a negotiated resolution—including multiple applications for mediation and requests for special government intervention, the USW has continued to refuse both direct bargaining and third-party mediation. This now leaves legal action as the only available recourse to advance the interests of all parties and communities affected by the dispute.

Core Issue: Respecting First Nations’ Rights

At the centre of this impasse is the USW’s demand that LKSM require all new Indigenous contractors to automatically certify with the USW Local. Since its inception, LKSM has held that Indigenous contractors should retain the right to independently decide whether to voluntarily recognize the union. This principle is essential to LKSM’s First Nations shareholders (the We Wai Kai, Wei Wai Kum, K’ómoks, and Tlowitsis First Nations). “That principle is fully aligned with both the 2019 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) and the right to self-determination for Indigenous Peoples in Canada,” emphasizes Dallas Smith, President of Nanwakolas Council.

The USW has advised however that it will not come to the negotiation table again unless LKSM first concedes this ability. “The First Nations shareholders in LKSM have clearly stated that the USW’s proposal that we concede the right would violate their protected right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), as recognized under DRIPA,” says LKSM’s Operations Manager Greg DeMille. “LKSM therefore cannot agree to the Union’s proposal.”

In the face of the USW’s refusal to negotiate, LKSM has pursued mediation as a means to resolve the impasse. LKSM has applied twice to the BC Labour Relations Board (BCLRB) to appoint a mediator but in both cases the USW refused to agree to mediation, and the BCLRB exercised its discretion to decline the requests. Two requests to the BC Minister of Labour to appoint a special mediator have been turned down.

“The First Nations believe the appointment of a mediator would have resulted in neutral, helpful recommendations to help bring closure to the strike quickly and productively so everyone can go back to work and move forward,” adds Dallas Smith. “We are extremely disappointed that the provincial government has failed to support everyone involved in this regard.”

This situation has left LKSM with no other option than to pursue a legal remedy that will remove this impediment to progress and enable resumption of negotiations. “We are confident that, once this barrier is removed, the remaining differences can be resolved swiftly and fairly,” said Greg DeMille. “Our goal remains to achieve an agreement that honours both workers’ rights and the inherent rights of First Nations as partners.”

-30-

Media contact:

Katherine Gordon (250) 616-6031       

Backgrounder: Legal application to BC Labour Relations Board

LKSM has asked that the BCLRB declare that the USW has engaged in bad faith bargaining, based on the USW’s insistence that LKSM must force future contractors, including Indigenous-owned contractors, to tell their employees that they have no choice but to join the USW.

LKSM’s position is that the USW can attempt to bargain an expansion of the bargaining unit but that it cannot force a strike over this issue. The USW cannot table proposals that violate DRIPA.  LKSM is not insisting that future Indigenous contractors be non-union, rather, that employees should have a choice, especially when working on their own lands, of if and how to organize themselves.

The USW is free to endeavour to organize any future contractors, through the card check process outlined elsewhere in the Labour Relations Code rather than forcing LKSM to require that all future First Nations contractors must join the USW.  Not only would that violate the Code, it also would violate DRIPA and UNDRIP. The fact that the USW has taken this issue to impasse renders the current strike illegal. The application speaks in part to a colonial history in which First Nations were excluded from benefiting from well-paying forestry jobs where they live, a legacy which continues in the USW’s position.

About LKSM:

The Tlowitsis, We Wai Kai, Wei Wai Kum and K’ómoks First Nations (the “Nations,” all member First Nations of the Nanwakolas Council), and Western Forest Products Inc. announced in March 2024 the completion of an agreement for the Nations to acquire a 34% interest from Western in a newly formed Limited Partnership (the “Partnership”) for $35.9 million.

The name for the Partnership, La-kwa sa muqw Forestry (pronounced la-KWAH-sa-mook) means ‘the wood of four’ in the Kwak̓wala language.  The Partnership consists of certain assets and liabilities of Western’s Mid Island Forest Operation, including the newly established Tree Farm Licence 64, created through the subdivision of Block 2 from Tree Farm Licence 39.

The operations of the Partnership cover approximately 157,000 hectares of forest land in the traditional territories of the Nations near the communities of Campbell River and Sayward on eastern Vancouver Island.  The Partnership manages an allowable annual cut of 904,540 cubic metres of timber and includes a long-term fibre agreement to support Western’s British Columbia coastal manufacturing operations. 

About Nanwakolas Council

The four Nations are all members of the Nanwakolas Council.  The Nanwakolas Council provides its member First Nations with advocacy and information services, technical support, coordination, and advice to assist them in their decision-making work. That work includes reviewing applications for provincial tenures and permits referred to the member First Nation for their decision and watching over Aweenak’ola through the Ha-ma-yas Stewardship Network.

Through Nanwakolas Council, the member First Nations come together to make decisions on matters in which they share common interests. They unite to uphold their Aboriginal rights and title, using the powerful collective voice on the Nanwakolas Council. The Nanwakolas Council engages with governments, industry, and partners of the member First Nations to protect the rights of the First Nations, and to ensure they are honoured and respected. www.nanwakolas.com.