Forest workers vote to strike in British Columbia, Canada

Mar 28, 2011. /Lesprom Network/. Forest workers in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada, have voted 95% in favour of a strike. 80% of workers voted, giving the United Steelworkers a strong mandate to press the Interior Forest Labour Relations Association for a better deal, as ForestTalk reported. “That is huge,” said Bruce Gardner, President of United Steelworkers Local 423. “That number from the amount of people, that is fantastic. That shows the amount of frustration out there.” The workers want a better deal, similar to the collective agreement forest workers have in the rest of the province. The union is calling for increases of 0%, 0%, 2%, and 2% in each of four years. The first two years have already passed. Some of the mills that could be affected are Tolko Heffley Creek, Tolko-Nicola, Apsen Planers, Aspen Industries, West Fraser Chasm, a number of Tolko mills in the Okanagan, Tembec mills in the Cranbrook area, as well as a number of single operation sites.