The employees of Northwood Pulp Mill have dug deep into their own pockets to come to the aid of mill workers affected by the deadly sawmill explosion and fire two weeks ago at Lakeland Mills.
Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) local 603, which represents 397 workers at Northwood, has donated $30,000 to a fund set up by the Prince George Community Foundation to help Lakeland employees and their families.
It is the largest single donation announced for the Lakeland fund so far.
"I'm always surprised by the generosity of people and it's pleasant to be surprised like this," said CEP local 306 president Dwaine Patterson. "People have come out and said we need to support these people, we need to help out.
"In the workplace, we have the same dust issue [the suspected cause of the Lakeland explosion]we fight out there to get cleaned up and we all face the same potential to lose our jobs at any time if something like this happens. We're just going into negotiations but these people aren't trying to stockpile to protect themselves in the event of a strike. They're saying 'Our wants aren't the same as their needs.'"
Northwood workers also donated $30,000 to the employees of Babine Lake Forest Products in Burns Lake, which suffered a similar disaster Jan. 20, that killed two mill workers and left 19 injured. The April 23 blaze that gutted the Lakeland sawmill resulted in the deaths of Alan Little and Glenn Roche with 22 others injured.
Northwood is owned by Canfor Pulp Ltd., and the union is hoping the company will match the $30,000 Lakewood donation. Canfor provided matching funds for the Burns Lake mill fund and when combined with the group effort and donations from individuals in the union local, they raised $86,000.
"We had our general membership meeting [Wednesday] night and one of the workers said we gave $30,000 to Burns Lake, so let's give $30,000 to Lakeland, and everybody agreed," said CEP local 306 office administrator Karen Staub. "It could happen to anybody. It's the right thing to do. There's just something to be said for the people of Prince George, we have a really good sense of community."
Northwood union members have given $43,000 to the Prince George Hospice Society and have a School District 57 program that annually provides three $750 bursaries to students. Employees also volunteer their services at the Salvation Army, Elizabeth Fry Society, St. Vincent de Paul Society and Native Friendship Centre.
"We have a good community spirit here in the North and this is just part of it," Patterson said.
Donations can be sent to the P.G. Community Foundation through its website, www.pgcf.ca or by calling 250-562-7772. So far, more than $110,000 has been collected.
n Save-On-Foods customers have now contributed $20,045 to the Lakewood fund. Until May 17, cashiers at the grocery tills in all four Prince George Save-on stores will be asking customers if they want to round up their bill totals to the nearest dollar.
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