The union that represents more than 22,000 workers in the forest industry has set its sights on Resolute Forest Products as it seeks to establish a pattern for new collective agreements in eastern Canada.
Unifor's leaders are serving notice they won't allow the controversial U.S. duties on forestry products levied last year "to let anyone impose anything on us" during contract negotiations.
In a prepared statement issued on the weekend, national president Jerry Dias referred to the duties as "temporary factors."
A Unifor news release indicated it will sit down with Resolute to negotiate monetary issues such as wages, benefits and pension plans. Once an agreement is reached, it will serve as a template for bargaining with all the other industry players including paper mills, sawmills and forestry operations.
The union plans to contact the company in the coming days to set up a bargaining schedule.
"One of our top priorities is renewing the forestry workforce in the coming years," said Unifor director Renaud Gagne. "We have to make sure that the working conditions are not only attractive, but also that they are good enough to retain workers, especially in terms of work-life balance."
