Resolute Forest Products Enters Into Four-Year Collective Agreement with Unifor

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The pulp and paper major, Resolute Forest Products, Inc (RFP) announced that it has signed a tentative four-year agreement with Unifor. The collective agreement covers RFP’s eight pulp and paper mills in Canada, employing approximately 1,100 employees belonging to the union. This completes the pattern bargaining for Eastern Canada’s pulp and paper sector.

The agreement is subject to ratification by union members, the company said. Different locations will hold ratification votes during the forthcoming weeks. If approved by the members, the tentative agreement will set the monetary pattern for all the pulp and paper mills across eastern Canada. As per estimates, around 15,000 Unifor members are expected to be affected by the final agreement.

The tentative agreement will be applicable to seven mills- Amos, Baie-Comeau, Dolbeau, Gatineau, Kénogami and Saint-Félicien facilities in Quebec, Thunder Bay mill in Ontario in addition to the currently idled Thorold facility in Ontario. The details of the agreement will be disclosed only after Unifor presents the agreement to its workers. The negotiations on the agreement were mainly focused on wages, vacations, benefits, pension plan and job security.

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Yves Laflamme, president and chief executive officer, RFP stated that the company is pleased to have reached a tentative agreement with the union which represents the majority of hourly employees working across sits various facilities. The agreement will support further long-term investments in the company’s Canadian operations, he added. Meantime, Renaud Gagné, Director, Unifor Québec hoped that the agreement will contribute to the ongoing renewal of the forestry workforce.

Unifor had selected RFP as the target company in their new round of pattern bargaining in eastern Canada.