BC’s three biggest forestry unions are teaming up to push the province to help workers in the struggling sector.
Representatives from Unifor, United Steelworkers, and the Public and Private Workers of Canada were at the BC Forestry Workers summit in Victoria this month.
The unions have since published a video of summit highlights, including comments from United Steelworkers central Island rep Brian Butler.
“There’s a lot of movement in this province around old growth and preservation, but what we need to see is movement from government to protect the working forest,” he said.
The unions presented government with a proposal to overhaul the industry, including creation of a Forestry Sector Council made up of all stakeholders, as well as more planning oversight.
“What we’re trying to do is send a message to government that they need to do more, they need to step up and provide a path for the workers who built the industry,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s Western Regional Director. “We’re bringing together these three unions for an historic summit, to actually come together with a combined voice, and say to our premier and our forest minister, we want to work twith you, but we need more for our workers.
Premier David Eby spoke at the summit and says there are good suggestions in the union report which will be put into practice.
We have linked the full video and the union’s proposal below.
On March 12 forestry workers from three unions convened for an unprecedented summit to address the crisis in the industry and to develop sustainable solutions for good job preservation. Watch the video:#bcpoli #bclab #canlab pic.twitter.com/9ffrhufAxf
— Unifor (@UniforTheUnion) March 27, 2024
