Workers at the Catalyst Crofton pulp and paper mill have voted overwhelming in favour of striking to back up contract demands.
Eighty-seven per cent of the members of Local 2 of the Public and Private Workers of Canada voted 99.7 per cent for job action.
The PPWC represents more than 400 workers at Catalyst Crofton.
In a statement supporting the workers and posted on Local 2’s website, Canadian Confederation of Unions president Kelly Johnson says the company “isn’t bargaining in good faith” and is trying to erode rights and working conditions, despite the fact the Catalyst mill is more profitable than ever before.
Johnson says that over the last ten years, Local 2 members have made significantly less in hourly wages compared to unionized counterparts elsewhere in the province.
Catalyst Crofton is owned by Paper Excellence, which announced earlier this month a curtailment of paper making operations would be coming in December because “paper markets in China served by the mill have significantly weakened while there have been substantial cost escalations for chemicals, energy and wood fibre used at Crofton.”
The company said pulp production at the mill would continue.
