A former Buchanan forklift operator says the mill’s employees have been left out in the cold while the company gets to retain its assets and property.
“There’s labour laws here and if they’re not enforceable get rid of them,” said Darryl Stewart. “Roll them up and hang them in the outhouse because that’s all they’re good for.”
Stewart was one of a handful of employees who met at the Valhalla Inn Monday morning for a creditors meeting for Northern Hardwoods employees.
On Jan. 13, Buchanan Forest Products confirmed that two if its mills were entering receivership while another two area mills, including Northern Hardwoods, were under bankruptcy protection. That leaves about 600 unionized workers with more than $11 million owed to them.
“We are being sloughed off the accounts payable; the company does not have to pay us,” he said, adding that since Buchanan-owned company Lucky Star Holdings is the major creditor for that mill, they get paid first and everyone further down the list gets nothing.
Stewart, who said he won’t likely see the $13,350 he’s owed, said while the process is legal, it’s not right.
“We’ve been let down by our government,” he said. “The only representative I saw here today was a member from John Rafferty’s (NDP, Thunder Bay – Rainy River) office. Our union national rep wasn’t even here…It just seems like there’s no one helping us, no one fighting for us and that’s just unacceptable.”
A representative from the Canadian Energy and Paperworkers union was present during the afternoon meeting.
Grant Thornton Limited is the bankruptcy trustee and partner and vice-president Frank Fabiano, who led the meeting Monday, said he was disappointed with the turnout.
“There was only a few employees who showed up,” he said, noting the mill has been closed for a few years so many people were probably working.
Fabiano said there was a general sense of frustration in the room since it’s unlikely they will see any of the money they’re owed.
“It’s just one of those things that the bankruptcy – unsecured creditors are going to probably fall short in this case,” he said.
He added that the firm is looking into a government wage earner protection program that could see each employee receiving about $3,000.
“We’re trying really hard to see if employees would be able to access that program,” said Fabiano. “Other than that, once we do all our due diligence, check all the records, basically the corporation is bankrupt and winds up on their own.”
Stewart said while Grant Thornton said they’re going to fight for the program, he doesn’t hold much hope.
“At the end of the day Buchanan gets to keep all his assets and walk away in the sunset and retire and the rest of us have another 15 years just to recover from the debt we’ve incurred through this layoff,” he said.
All that’s left to do is try to lobby the government to step in and do what’s right, said Stewart.
“If they can step up and give a $25 million loan guarantee to Buchanan for Terrace Bay, why can’t they step in and help the employees here?” he said. “If we had forced this bankruptcy sooner, it would have been a lot harder for Buchanan to secure investors and the loan from the government to restart Terrace Bay. There is no reason we couldn’t have had help in the same regard here.”
Fabiano said at Northern Hardwoods, there are about 140 to 150 employees all owned somewhere in the neighbourhood of $20,000.
