Catalyst Paper Concludes Four-Year Tentative Labor Agreement with Unifor

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Unifor, which represents union workers, has reached a contract agreement with Richmond, B.C.-based Catalyst Paper Corporation. The announcement to this effect was made on June 18, 2018.

The new four-year tentative agreement represents approximately 750 workers in the province of British Columbia. It covers Catalyst members represented by Unifor Local’s 176, 592, 686 and 1132. The new contract, supported by the union’s bargaining committee, now needs ratification by union members. The vote is scheduled to take place next week. The details of the collective agreement will be made public only after the vote.

According to Jerry Dias, Unifor National President, the agreement achieves the pattern bargaining goals that Unifor set for the western pulp sector. Further, he congratulated the bargaining committee on obtaining a fair deal, especially during these extremely challenging times for the Canadian pulp and paper industry.

ALSO READ: Catalyst Paper In Agreement To Sell U.S. Assets to Nine Dragons Paper

The new agreement comes as a big relief to Catalyst Paper, which has been badly hit by the 22% anti-dumping duty imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce in March this year. The company had called the action as unwarranted and without merit. It had warned that the duties are a critical cost challenge to three of its B.C mills. Unifor had extended its support to the Canadian paper and pulp industry, by demanding immediate action by the federal government to stop these unfair duties. Incidentally, the final decision on duties is expected around first week of August this year.

Earlier in May this year, Resolute Forest Products (RFP) has announced ratification of the collective labor agreement with Unifor in Canada, renewing the agreement for a period of four years at eight of its paper and pulp operations in Canada. Nearly 74% of the Unifor members had voted in favor of the deal, which offered wage increase of 2% in the first two years and 2.5% in the next two years.