LAVAL, Quebec — Members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference have voted to reauthorize strikes at CPKC and CN, the union announced Saturday. Overall, 89.5% of union members participated in the vote, with 98.6% voting to reauthorize the strike, the union said. …The union previously authorized strikes at both railroads on May 1, but those authorizations are only good for 60 days, and the potential May 22 strikes have been placed on hold while the Canada Industrial Relations Board rules on a government request to determine if any shipments must continue in the event of a work stoppage. That ruling is still pending. “CN and CPKC are trying to force changes to our collective agreements that would move the clock back on working conditions and rail safety,” TCRC President Paul Boucher said. …The railroads have rejected the unions’ claim that their offers jeopardize safety, saying their latest offers “fully comply with new regulatory requirements for rest.”
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BELLEVILLE — The Ontario government is investing $445,252 in a new action centre to help the 180 workers impacted by the closure of Cascades’ manufacturing plants in Trenton and Belleville connect with services and training they need to get back to work quickly. David Piccini, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, said “Our government is investing in the Cascades Action Centre to ensure that these workers have access to resources and opportunities to land better jobs.” Run by Unifor, the Cascades Action Centre will operate until April 2025 and support laid-off workers represented by Unifor Local 1470 and the Independent Paperworkers of Canada Local 7. The action centre will host workshops and seminars, provide peer-to-peer support and job search assistance, teach financial management and computer skills.
US paper makers are warning the EU that a new law requiring them to trace timber to its origins risks disrupting $3.5 billion of trade and raising prices for diapers, sanitary pads and other hygiene products. It will be impossible to comply with the pending regulation because pulp supply chains are too diffuse to track all trees, and there’s often a two-year lag between the time they’re cut down and when they’re turned into fiber. The US industry is a major exporter of “fluff pulp,” an absorbent material used to make personal products. American suppliers meet about 60% of the EU’s needs, so any interruption would reverberate throughout the 27-nation bloc. “The EUDR as is currently written will raise the costs significantly for US producers, and it will translate into inflationary pressures in the EU,” said Mark Pitts, at AF&PA. There have been some repercussions from the law even before it takes effect, with companies having supply agreements derailed, Pitts said. [to access the full story a Bloomberg subscription is required]
A grant from the U.S. Department of Labor is providing $2 million to the State of Montana to provide workforce retraining and other services to lumber workers losing their jobs because of the closures of two lumber companies in western Montana. The U.S. Department of Labor provided the Montana Department of Labor and Industry with the first disbursement of $800,000 on Monday, the governor’s office said, to help workers affected by the pending closures of Pyramid Mountain Lumber, the largest employer in Seeley Lake, and Roseburg Forest Products in Missoula. …The money helps dislocated workers and others by utilizing local organizations to provide job training, career services, and transitional help so workers can find new jobs. Counties that are eligible to access money from the grant include Missoula, Flathead, Lake, Lincoln, Mineral, Powell and Sanders. The Blackfeet and Flathead reservations can also utilize the funds.
