Forest workers ready to strike in British Columbia

Forestry workers in British Columbia‘s southern interior are ready to strike.

Last week the United Steelworkers union filed their required 72 hours notice of strike action against the member companies of the Interior Forest Labor Relations Association (including, Tolko, Tembec, Weyerhaeuser-Canada, a unit of Weyerhaeuser Co, and several smaller firms).

A government mediator was called in for talks on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. If an agreement is not reached, 4,000 union members will be on strike. The workers have been without a contract since July 1, 2009.

“We’ve been at this for too long,” Bob Matters, chairman of the union’s Wood Council said on Monday.

The union says the management association is refusing to accept a pattern agreement that has been adopted by forest companies across other regions of B.C.

Read more:
Canada forestry sector workers say ready to strike (Reuters)
Mediation stalls wood strike in southern B.C. (The Canadian Press)