Truckers, woodlot owners meet with Stora
Frustrated parties express concerns
GUYSBOROUGH - After months of sitting on the sidelines, frustrated representatives of woodlot owners and pulp truckers affected by the Stora Enso lockout held a private meeting with company management last week.
The meeting was designed to outline possible changes to existing arrangements between woodlot owners, truckers and Stora Enso if and when the lockout at the pulp and paper mill is resolved.
Representatives from the Stora Enso Woodland Contractors Association and the Northeastern Pulp Truckers Association attended the meeting.
Next Generation Forest Management president Calvin Archibald told The Journal that the meeting did not include discussions about the progress of negotiations between the union and company management.
The June 24 deadline, however, was up for discussion at a meeting where the mood was "one of concern".
"People want to know what will happen to us and our employees (if a deal isn't reached," Archibald said.
"We will be out of work, unless we can find work someplace else."
Archibald confirmed that the decision to hold the meeting was in part born from the woodlot owners and truckers' frustration at having to sit on the sidelines throughout the lockout.
"We're not taking sides but we're upset with the (negotiating) process," Archibald said. "We're not at the table…it's very frustrating."
He also revealed that the Stora Enso Woodland Contractors Association and the Northeastern Pulp Truckers Association had sent emails to the union during the early stages of the lockout.
Those emails, he said, were not returned.
Archibald said he was "doubtful" the negotiation process between the union and company "can work".
"We asked Stora officials to come in and give us an update," Archibald said. "(The Stora officials at the meeting, including the mill's woodlands unit vice-president, Russ Waycott) didn't try and reassure us, they were more saying, 'If this gets resolved, this is how we'd expect contractors to perform'."
Archibald didn't specify what changes to existing operations Stora officials might seek from woodlot operators and truckers but said the associations understood they were competing in a tough global market.
"We were always cost-conscious, we understand business," he said. "We are business people and you have to keep up with the times. We realize that we have to compete globally."
The associations issued a joint press release on Tuesday morning saying the mill's possible closure "creates great concern for our 600 employees and ourselves with upwards of $50 million investment in high-tech equipment".
"Many of our businesses are family businesses generating employment in rural areas where other employment is hard to find. If the mill closes these jobs will disappear and suppliers of parts, fuel and other supplies will be negatively impacted," the press release continued.
"Our silviculture and harvesting activity helps support the economy of Nova Scotia, provides a revenue source for government and provides a resource for future generations.
"We share a vision of the future of forestry with Stora Enso.
"We are committed to working with all parties to sustain Nova Scotia's forest industry. Stora Enso needs to make a business case to stay in Nova Scotia. Their Port Hawkesbury mill is a critical component to sustaining this Nova Scotia industry in a region already in economic crisis."
