CEP ratifies AbitibiBowater agreement

The Wolf says:

One word.

Marathon

8/29/2009 5:02:38 PM

elvis2010 says:

Actually, Wolf, it's 5 words: Concessions, six months, shut down!

8/30/2009 9:20:51 AM

HHopalongCassidy 2 says:

I trust the membership will ratify this agreement and that the Province will do their part by reducing the cost of electricity to the Mill. Electricity costs in Ontario are far higher than in Manitoba or Quebec and puts the mills here and in the rest of the province at a distinct disadvantage. The company if they haven't already done so can also apply for funding under the Federal Government's ONE BILLION DOLLAR Fund set aside for the forestry sector.in Canada to offset the American governments subsidy to their forestry sector earlier in the year.

8/30/2009 6:03:56 PM

Great Laker says:

At least they are trying to survive. To fight another day.

8/30/2009 6:34:55 PM

captain says:

hey hopalong. You and a guy named greatlaker should be writing together. One question about energy costs. if the cost of energy is the problem then why are mills in Quebec and BC, with lower costs, closing? Older mills, US company bleeding profits from these mills, saying anything to get costs down, no markets, high dollar, foreign competition. how many other reasons would you like. our mills have lost hundreds and hundreds of jobs over the past three decades. this is not new. A 6 billion dollar debt might be part of this little problem too. Maybe the critics should ask Abitibi why they invested in Fort Francis to create their own power, but wouldn't do it here in T.Bay. If they did that, like Avenor planned to many years ago, energy could not be used as today's excuse.

8/30/2009 8:36:40 PM

HHopalong Cassidy 2 says:

Captain says Why are mills in Quebec and Manitoba closing down? NO MARKET in which to sell their product Captain.Where in a global recession, The Americans our biggest customer by far of what we produce, are not buying Canadian paper products, their not building homes or renovating at this point and their not buying our lumber our building supplies ect.No Customer as a employer you have no choice, you reduce your operating costs to survive labour costs wages benefits ect huge expense electricity costly particularly in Ontario more so than in Manitoba and Quebec. The union membership has no choice but to make the necessary concessions to their employer and more if necessary.The alternative layoffs,permanent job losses,and mill closures which have been occurring and will until such time as the American consumer starts buying our paper and Softwood Lumber exports or find other markets in which to sell in, China perhaps. You can't operate a business without customers, No Customers and you either cut operating costs to the bone or close down. Let's hope Mr Obama is successful in turning the American economy around ASAP.

8/30/2009 10:38:08 PM

advocate says:

It is not great that they are asking for concessions, but if that is what is needed to keep the mill open, even for a short period, then it needs to happen. Yes, the mill in Marathon still shut down, but 6 months as less pay is greater than no job. At least it give the employees a little extra time with EI and a little extra time to find a job.

8/31/2009 10:50:36 AM

observer says:

That is a hard thing to do, but I am positive that the concessions have been made. As the wife of an employee who is going to loose his job, I congratulate those that are trying to keep their work open if only for enough time for more of the men to get some sort of pension.

Just to remind the citizens of Tbay, the Kraft Mill is needed to make paper towels, toilet paper etc, and we know that will always be needed. What we can't trust is if this Mill will remain open past the next year.

8/31/2009 2:04:34 PM

stormy says:

The majority of union members have cast their vote in favor of the negotiated changes to their local work issues.

As far as the general public is concerned the revised contract terms are fairly irrelevant. There does seem to be a few people voicing negative opinions regarding this deal, as is their right, but most of these people seem to have some type of alternative agenda, or seem to display a negative bias against this mill surviving for some unknown reason.

I think that this vote needs to be respected by all outsiders.
It is the union local 39 & 257 members who live & work under the terms and consequences of this deal, so we (the public) would all have to assume they have done what they think is best, in a democratic vote.

Speculation about the terms of this deal is also a waste of time, as the majority of the members have decided what they think is best for themselves and their families, and who else has the moral authority to question that?

The other party to this deal (the company) has publically stated that this revised contract was essential if there was to be any hope that this mill could be competitive (survive), so lets wish these workers good luck, and best wishes that the rest of the pieces of the survival puzzle will now fall into place and this Thunder Bay mill can go forward to a better future as a significant employer here in Thunder Bay.

8/31/2009 5:38:49 PM

captain says:

hopalong, that was my point. your initial comment spoke about the province and energy costs. my point was energy costs are the red-herring. Quebec and BC with low power costs are closing too but people in this town keep talking about it. the main reasons are what I said and then you said. no market, customers etc, global recession, competition, high dollar. Let's hope this stuff with the union works, but in my view, bowater is still a US based company, and it is going to do what is best for US shareholders and they will bleed as much as they can from the government, and the workers. Let's hope for concessions, the union got from the company some guarantee of jobs, pensions etc, otherwise, I see the company staying open long enough to make money and closing the doors when they are done. I hope I am wrong.

8/31/2009 6:18:24 PM

Great Laker says:

Well there is some inspiring reading here, and for the few of you that have a clue I applaud you, As far as Elvis 2010 he has obviously left the building. And captain you should stick to plying the water on the good ship MSS Idiot.

There were no concessions even asked for. Wages pension and benefits were not even talked about. What was talked about was how the company and the unions could work together to make this location look good to the creditors. So it would survive as one of the plants in the group coming out of CCAA.
I applaud the bothers and sisters for having the for site to see how important it is to get over this major hurdle. at the cost of jobs and working conditions. All I know is if it closes it will not restart. And then Thunder Bay suffers. Say what you will but we need that mill. For the few whiners that resent the fact that our fore fathers had the where with all to take the hard line and fight the companies for better wages working conditions and benefits that well we all enjoy thank too organized labor. BOO HOO

8/31/2009 7:10:08 PM

Great Laker says:

Well there is some inspiring reading here, and for the few of you that have a clue I applaud you, As far as Elvis 2010 he has obviously left the building. And captain you should stick to plying the water on the good ship MSS Idiot.

There were no concessions even asked for. Wages pension and benefits were not even talked about. What was talked about was how the company and the unions could work together to make this location look good to the creditors. So it would survive as one of the plants in the group coming out of CCAA.
I applaud the bothers and sisters for having the for site to see how important it is to get over this major hurdle. at the cost of jobs and working conditions. All I know is if it closes it will not restart. And then Thunder Bay suffers. Say what you will but we need that mill. For the few whiners that resent the fact that our fore fathers had the where with all to take the hard line and fight the companies for better wages working conditions and benefits that well we all enjoy thank too organized labor. BOO HOO

8/31/2009 8:55:40 PM

burst says:

You are right about needing baled kraft Observer but the problem is that the TBay facility as a whole is much too large to be a single machine Kraft mill. The overhead costs are just too great for it to be viable -- even as a Kraft / single paper machine mill, it's tough to get costs down to the levels that they are talking. Hopefully the company and the unions can formulate a plan to keep it going long enough to see a market for North American newsprint return.

8/31/2009 9:53:59 PM

Great Laker says:

Well there is some inspiring reading here, and for the few of you that have a clue I applaud you, As far as Elvis 2010 he has obviously left the building. And captain you should stick to plying the water on the good ship MSS Idiot.

There were no concessions even asked for. Wages pension and benefits were not even talked about. What was talked about was how the company and the unions could work together to make this location look good to the creditors. So it would survive as one of the plants in the group coming out of CCAA.
I applaud the bothers and sisters for having the for site to see how important it is to get over this major hurdle. at the cost of jobs and working conditions. All I know is if it closes it will not restart. And then Thunder Bay suffers. Say what you will but we need that mill. For the few whiners that resent the fact that our fore fathers had the where with all to take the hard line and fight the companies for better wages working conditions and benefits that well we all enjoy thank too organized labor. BOO HOO

9/1/2009 8:21:36 AM

Bobguy says:

Burst: The north american newsprint market is done. 1. people are getting their information online, 24 hr news chanels, satelite radio and many other media. 2. Advertizing is down as the market is fractured by hundreds of TV chanels, smaller papers and thousands of magazines. 3. Newspapers are losing millions of ad revenue to websites such as kijiji and ebay for their classified ads. AbiBow has to either focus on TBay being one of the few remaining mills left open or invest in a different paper output. Hopefully they do so or sell the site to someone willing to invest up here. I still firmly believe that the trees here will not die of old age in the end.

9/3/2009 9:06:17 AM