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WFP announces temporary curtailment at Ladysmith sawmill

Western Forest Products Inc. (WFP) announced today a temporary curtailment at its Ladysmith sawmill in part due to action taken by the United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 (USW) which has impeded log supply to the mill. Operations will be curtailed once log supply is depleted, which is expected to occur on or before Aug. 1, 2019.

“We’ve had to make the decision to temporarily curtail operations at Ladysmith due to a lack of log supply in part due to the United Steelworkers’ decision to take strike action and prevent the movement of logs, amidst challenging market conditions,” said Don Demens, President and CEO of Western. “We commend Ladysmith employees who have demonstrated tremendous dedication to running a safe and high-performing operation. Going forward, we will continue to monitor log availability and market conditions to determine when we can resume operations.”

The temporary curtailment impacts 67 unionized employees at the Ladysmith sawmill who are represented by the Public and Private Workers of Canada. The current strike action by the USW, the union representing approximately 1,500 of the company’s hourly employees and 1,500 employees working for the company’s timberland operators and contractors in British Columbia, commenced on July 1, 2019.