Lack of fibre has forest industry and communities in ‘crisis,’ unions say

By Darron Kloster
Victoria Times Colonist
March 13, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

…In what was called an “unprecedented summit,” the forest industry’s three major unions in B.C. — Unifor, United Steelworkers and Public and Private Workers of Canada — released a report outlining mill closures, continuing job losses, fibre supply shortages and issues related to old growth and logging tenures that have been eroding the province’s harvesting, pulp and paper, and wood manufacturing sectors. The unions say they want to be part of key reforms for a modern, value-added and sustainable provincial forest industry. The union report documents a stark decline in B.C.’s forest industry, where the province’s share of wood products has gone from half of all Canadian production to a third, as mills shutter permanently or are curtailed for long periods. More than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs have been lost over the past decade alone, including 3,000 across the industry in the past year. …The unions are proposing four key measures to stop the tailspin…

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