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Bowater bargaining halts

Negotiations for an agreement have been put on the back burner and strike votes will soon be under way at five Bowa…
Negotiations for an agreement have been put on the back burner and strike votes will soon be under way at five Bowater paper mills. Roughly 2400 workers at the company’s facilities in Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are implicated in the colloquy, but talks ceased at the request of the company on April 22nd.

Brian Payne, president of Communications, Energy and Paperworkers of Canada announced the union will be conducting strike votes at each location within the next two weeks. “I am optimistic that we will resume negotiations in the coming weeks and conclude an agreement with Bowater based on the Abitibi pattern settlement for the eastern Canadian pulp and paper industry,” he confirmed. A settlement between the CEP and Abitibi Consolidated was reached last year.