Montreal – With their collective agreements set to expire april 30, members of Canada’s largest pulp and paper-workers’ union from mills in ontario, Quebec, and the atlantic region are inviting pulp a…
Montreal – With their collective agreements set to expire april 30, members of Canada’s largest pulp and paper-workers’ union from mills in ontario, Quebec, and the atlantic region are inviting pulp and paper companies to come to the table with a “new approach.”
local representatives from the Communications, energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, representing some 15,000 workers, held a three-day meeting in Montreal where they discussed strategy and chose a pattern company – abitibi-Bowater – for this round of pattern bargaining. the union is seeking a three-year agreement.
“CEP will continue to address the survival issues that all companies face and negotiate a responsible industry-wide agreement that is fair for all companies, but we expect our employers to join with us in an effort to protect jobs and to save our industry,” says a statement prepared by the union.
“We believe firmly that jobs and mills cannot be saved by attacking workers’ wages and pensions, or by breaking the common industry standards that have been established by our pattern bargaining system. We propose a three-year agreement with labour stability and productivity increases.”
CEP President Dave Coles says the union is putting the industry on notice that it must start “thinking bigger.”
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