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Former Abitibi workers at Thunder Bay facilitate retrofit loans

THUNDER BAY, ON — Superior Packaging reached a long-term collective agreement Thursday with the Communication, Ene…
THUNDER BAY, ON — Superior Packaging reached a long-term collective agreement Thursday with the Communication, Energy, and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) that is expected to help revive the idled Fort William Mill in Thunder Bay, ON, according to Thunder Bay’s The Source on December 20
Superior Packaging hopes to buy the former newsprint mill from Montreal, QC-based AbitibiBowater and convert it to produce a corrugated paper product the company says is unique to North America.
Businessman Jay Grandiano said Thursday that the signing of the long-term deal with the CEP, the union representing workers at the mill, is a positive step toward acquiring the C$50 million to C$60 million in capital needed to finance the mill’s conversion.
Grandiano, of Montreal, QC, is to head the new operation, and if all goes according to schedule, is expected to take control of the mill by the end of first-quarter 2008. He is well known in the forest products industry, the newspaper said.
The former 350-employee mill shut down in February.
Next Thursday, the CEP is scheduled to hold a meeting for members, to release more details on the contract and the operation.
CEP national representative Marvin Pupeza admitted the pay scale of the new contract is lower than that in the previous Fort William Mill agreement, but it helps create 80 jobs that did not exist. He said he has confidence in Grandiano, The Source reported.

The primary source of this article is The Thunder Bay Source, Thunder Bay, ON, and ForestWeb.