LONGVIEW Washington – Hundreds of employees of Weyerhaeuser, one of the nation’s largest timber companies, began a massive strike in the early hours of Tuesday in Washington and Oregon. Workers say that most recent contract negotiations did not yield a substantial increase in wages, improved retirement, and under the proposed agreement, workers would have to start paying a healthcare insurance premium without any improvements in coverage. Weyerhaeuser locations on strike include Aberdeen, Longview, Raymond, Coos Bay, Springfield and Cottage Grove. The strike includes all Weyerhauser workers represented by the union, International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers. …Workers on strike say their union contract has been normally been renewed successfully with the company every four years, but they say the company is not doing enough to compensate workers in the current economy.

More than 100 people are suing the Roseburg Forest Products Co. in Oregon for losses caused by the Mill Fire in Siskiyou County. Among them is a man whose mother died in the blaze. Others are suing for personal injuries, or for loss or damage of their homes or other property by the fire. Last Wednesday Roseburg announced it was investigating claims a water-spraying machine used to cool ash at its veneer mill in Weed ignited the Mill Fire on Sept. 2. The residents who’ve filed the suits are represented by Northern California law firms with offices in Redding and Sacramento. The fire erupted in Weed and raced north to Lake Shastina. It swept through the historic Lincoln Heights neighborhood in Weed. …As of Monday, Redding lawyer Russell Reiner  said his law firm — Reiner, Slaughter, Mainzer, & Frankel — is representing 100-150 people suing Roseburg, some of whom suffered burns while fleeing the fire.

MONTANA — An early morning fire at R-Y Timber in Livingston on Monday destroyed a 6,000-square-foot building and machinery, and caused one employee to be life-flighted to a Salt Lake City hospital with burns, confirmed Dan Richards, the general manager at R-Y Timber. The apparent cause of the fire — which started around 6 a.m. — was an electrical spark and a “dust explosion,” said Richards. About 50 fire and police personnel were on location to battle the blaze with flames as high as “30 to 40 feet,” according to Danielle Babcox, public information officer for Park County Rural Fire District #1. The fire was contained around 9 a.m., said Babcox, and was “not progressing to other buildings, but there are a lot of hot spots.” …Richards said the lumber company’s planer building was “burned to the ground.” R-Y Timber employs about 70 people in Livingston. The sawmill makes 2-by-4 and 2-by-6-inch studs from timber grown in the Rocky Mountains.

Employees who work for timber company Weyerhaeuser in Oregon and Washington are on strike, citing low wage increases and high health care premiums. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents more than 1,100 Weyerhaeuser employees, said employees walked off the job Tuesday. Negotiations for a new bargaining agreement with the Seattle-based company have been ongoing since this spring. An overwhelming number of employees reportedly voted to reject the timber company’s latest offer on Aug. 19, with the union saying the proposal came “nowhere close to what our members wanted or deserved.” Union members voted to strike soon after. “All our members want is their fair share of the profits they earned for the company, keep up with the cost of living, and make the gains that a good employer should offer, in light of the success they have reaped off the labor of their employees,” the union said.