Tembec shuts mills; Mill workers in Cochrane and Kapuskasing given layoff notices
Posted By Michael Peeling
Posted 3 days ago
A major forestry company has laid off 200 mill workers in two Northeastern Ontario towns as it struggles to operate under difficult market conditions.
Tembec Inc. announced it will, for an indefinite period, shut down one of three paper machines currently running at Kapuskasing's Spruce Falls mill on Oct. 23, putting 50 people out of work, while all 150 workers at the sawmill in Cochrane will be off the job starting Oct. 19.
Tracy Dottori, a Tembec spokeswoman, said all of the employees were told of the shutdowns in advance of Friday's public announcement.
While the company has no set plan to aid its laid-off employees in place yet, Dottori said Tembec is working on on a plan while it constantly reassesses the viability of reopening the Cochrane mill and restarting the Kapuskasing paper machine.
"We're looking at a lot of possibilities right now," Dottori said.
"We're working on a plan, but I can't give away many of the details until it's in place. We'll continue to assess how to best help our employees during this time."
Dottori cited significant declining newsprint consumption in North America, high fibre costs, particularly for wood chip residue, and the strong Canadian dollar versus the American dollar as factors that have led to the newsprint machine shutdown.
"A decrease in the number of U.S. market housing starts has had a big impact (in Cochrane), and so have lumber demand and pricing, both of which are poor," she said.
Cochrane Mayor Lawrence Martin said the town has met with re-elected MPP David Ramsay (Liberal - Timiskaming-Cochrane) about government programs that could help the workers get through the layoff, which is estimated to have an impact on the local economy to the tune of a $7-million annual loss.
"We were not officially expecting the layoff, but we could see the writing on the wall," Martin said. "It was only a matter of time."
Town council plans on meeting with union officials to determine other ways the mill workers could be helped, Martin said.
Martin is optimistic that at least a few people may keep their jobs supplying wood chips from the mill to the Abitibi-Consolidated pulp and paper mill in Iroquois Falls.
Kapuskasing Mayor Alan Spacek said the town is bracing for the spin-off impact of 50 job losses, which he believes will multiply three-fold at least.
"It's frustrating for us," Spacek said. "(The mill) went from being stable in August to where we are today. (Tembec) was even predicting a bit of growth."
The weakened U.S. dollar has destroyed the possibility of growth for now, according to Spacek.
"It's certainly going to have a negative impact on the morale of the community, but we need to remain optimistic that it's a temporary situation." said the mayor. "The dollar is going through an unusual adjustment."
Spacek said government needs to be pressed to provide financial assistance to the forest products industry, aid in making mills more efficient, and help create a market environment that encourages new and more diverse product lines.
As a back-up plan, the Town of Kapuskasing has been looking at getting into mineral investments with the help of the Timmins Economic Development Corporation and its resident geologist Robert Calhoun.
Deposits of silica, clay, slate and soapstone have been identified in the region as starting points for potential investment.
Lorraine Crickard's husband, a 30-year employee of the Cochrane sawmill, will lose his job, at least temporarily, but she is more concerned about workers who have only been at the Tembec mill for a few years.
"It's definitely going to affect the community and all the companies that service the mill, but it's young families that still have kids to support and no pension to rely on," Crickard said. "What are they going to do?"
Crickard's children have all grown up and left home, but the couple learned the importance of preparing for the worst when her husband was laid off the first time less than two years ago.
He took another job to make ends meet, but eventually returned to the sawmill.
Dottori said it is far too early to predict the future of the Cochrane and Kapuskasing mills.
Find thousands of Bilingual jobs at LatPro.com.
Posted 3 days ago
A major forestry company has laid off 200 mill workers in two Northeastern Ontario towns as it struggles to operate under difficult market conditions.
Tembec Inc. announced it will, for an indefinite period, shut down one of three paper machines currently running at Kapuskasing's Spruce Falls mill on Oct. 23, putting 50 people out of work, while all 150 workers at the sawmill in Cochrane will be off the job starting Oct. 19.
Tracy Dottori, a Tembec spokeswoman, said all of the employees were told of the shutdowns in advance of Friday's public announcement.
While the company has no set plan to aid its laid-off employees in place yet, Dottori said Tembec is working on on a plan while it constantly reassesses the viability of reopening the Cochrane mill and restarting the Kapuskasing paper machine.
"We're looking at a lot of possibilities right now," Dottori said.
"We're working on a plan, but I can't give away many of the details until it's in place. We'll continue to assess how to best help our employees during this time."
Dottori cited significant declining newsprint consumption in North America, high fibre costs, particularly for wood chip residue, and the strong Canadian dollar versus the American dollar as factors that have led to the newsprint machine shutdown.
"A decrease in the number of U.S. market housing starts has had a big impact (in Cochrane), and so have lumber demand and pricing, both of which are poor," she said.
Cochrane Mayor Lawrence Martin said the town has met with re-elected MPP David Ramsay (Liberal - Timiskaming-Cochrane) about government programs that could help the workers get through the layoff, which is estimated to have an impact on the local economy to the tune of a $7-million annual loss.
"We were not officially expecting the layoff, but we could see the writing on the wall," Martin said. "It was only a matter of time."
Town council plans on meeting with union officials to determine other ways the mill workers could be helped, Martin said.
Martin is optimistic that at least a few people may keep their jobs supplying wood chips from the mill to the Abitibi-Consolidated pulp and paper mill in Iroquois Falls.
Kapuskasing Mayor Alan Spacek said the town is bracing for the spin-off impact of 50 job losses, which he believes will multiply three-fold at least.
"It's frustrating for us," Spacek said. "(The mill) went from being stable in August to where we are today. (Tembec) was even predicting a bit of growth."
The weakened U.S. dollar has destroyed the possibility of growth for now, according to Spacek.
"It's certainly going to have a negative impact on the morale of the community, but we need to remain optimistic that it's a temporary situation." said the mayor. "The dollar is going through an unusual adjustment."
Spacek said government needs to be pressed to provide financial assistance to the forest products industry, aid in making mills more efficient, and help create a market environment that encourages new and more diverse product lines.
As a back-up plan, the Town of Kapuskasing has been looking at getting into mineral investments with the help of the Timmins Economic Development Corporation and its resident geologist Robert Calhoun.
Deposits of silica, clay, slate and soapstone have been identified in the region as starting points for potential investment.
Lorraine Crickard's husband, a 30-year employee of the Cochrane sawmill, will lose his job, at least temporarily, but she is more concerned about workers who have only been at the Tembec mill for a few years.
"It's definitely going to affect the community and all the companies that service the mill, but it's young families that still have kids to support and no pension to rely on," Crickard said. "What are they going to do?"
Crickard's children have all grown up and left home, but the couple learned the importance of preparing for the worst when her husband was laid off the first time less than two years ago.
He took another job to make ends meet, but eventually returned to the sawmill.
Dottori said it is far too early to predict the future of the Cochrane and Kapuskasing mills.
Find thousands of Bilingual jobs at LatPro.com.
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