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Pulp union OKs deal

The union that rejected the last contract offer from Canfor Pulp has now accepted the same offer by a wide margin. This week the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada-Local 9 membership voted 72 per cent in favour of a five-year deal.

The union that rejected the last contract offer from Canfor Pulp has now accepted the same offer by a wide margin.

This week the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada-Local 9 membership voted 72 per cent in favour of a five-year deal. It was the same deal that another union - Communications, Energy and Paperworkers-Locals 603 and 1133 - agreed to last month by the same voting result. The two unions work side by side in different sectors of the pulp and paper factories in Prince George (Prince George Pulp, Intercontinental Pulp, and Northwood), all of which are owned by Canfor Pulp.

Why the change of union heart? PPWC's national vice-president Frank Robertson said it was a matter of clearing up some misunderstandings.

"I believe we [from the bargaining table] did not do a good job of explaining it to the membership. I'll take the responsibility for that myself," said Robertson. "We did a better job since that vote, went over it more thoroughly, the membership had a better chance to digest what we were saying, and then 72 per cent decided it was something they wanted."

Canfor Pulp's vice-president of human resources, Onkar Athwal, said the company was taken aback by the initial rejection of the contract offer, especially since the other union accepted it so readily and it was negotiated as a possible model for other mills throughout the Canfor operations group.

"We talked to the union, after the rejection vote, and discussed what we needed to do to get ratification," Athwal said. "It was a pattern agreement so there wasn't much room to move. We had to talk to them about some of the points and had to clarify some items that they could take back to their membership. When they voted 72 per cent in favour, once that was done, that was a very good sign for us and we are very pleased with the result."

Athwal said the negotiations were tough and frank but they were not mean-spirited on either side. Robertson agreed that there were some hard realities for both sides to swallow but no disrespect shown.

"When you look at everything going on in the industry, the different problems there are with businesses around the world these days, it was as good as we were going to get at this time. I'm happy, actually - not displeased with the outcome that's for sure."

Both sides were relieved with the the five-year term of the contract (the previous was four years long) for the sake of extra stability and certainty for both sides.

"Pulp and paper on the international market is still being watched closely but we are confident in the strength of Canfor Pulp to operate well within the realities of the industry," said Athwal. "We have no doubts about our future, lets put it that way. We are well managed, well operated, and this agreement brings those parts together for five years of co-operation so we can all grow the business and succeed together."

"We are where we need to be," said Robertson. "It's good news for Prince George."