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Unifor calling for solution in Fort Frances

November 17, 2014, Toronto, Ont. – Private sector union Unifor is looking to the Ontario government for help in providing a solution for the Fort Frances pulp mill in northern Ontario.

"We are frustrated that plans to save a closed pulp mill in Fort Frances currently owned by Resolute Forestry are needlessly floundering," said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President.

Recently, Expera Specialty Solutions, a Wisconsin-based paper company, announced that its exploration of an opportunity to purchase the now closed Fort Frances mill had ended and that it was unable to reach a deal. The acquisition would have resulted in 200 jobs at the facility and another 800 related jobs.

"The government needs to take action to not just save the mill, but to establish a fair and economical way to manage our forestry resources," stressed Dias.

In the short-term, the government must commit to heat the pulp mill over the winter to preserve the equipment in the mill.

Unifor is also calling on the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry to immediately establish a multi-stakeholder taskforce to make recommendations regarding forestry licencing and resource management.

"The government's continued failure to take action is putting the future of Ontario's recovering forestry sector in jeopardy," said Dias.

Ontario is now at risk of losing the Fort Frances pulp mill asset and the possibility of 1000 jobs in the community.

"There is good potential for the forestry industry in Ontario, which is obviously based on a renewable resource, to have a strong future. But that is not going to happen without leadership from the government and business, in consultation with community, labour and First Nations," said Dias.

November 17, 2014  By  Andrew Macklin



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