Extension to wage program in works for mill workers
Written by GORDON HOEKSTRA, Citizen staff
Friday, 12 September 2008
Extensions to a program that helps top up sawmill workers wages at mills on reduced work weeks is under consideration by the federal government.
Conservative Cariboo-Prince George incumbent MP Dick Harris says he has been working on the issue. But no decision has been made yet, and won't likely be done during election period, he says.
"There are some deadlines, the end of October and early November, said Harris, referring to the end of the 38-week program for some mills. "We're working hard to meet those deadlines," he said.
The election goes Oct. 14, so there is time, noted Harris, who has won his last five elections.
Cariboo-Prince George NDP candidate Bev Collins is more cautious on extending the income sharing program on reduced work weeks, saying extensions should only be provided if it helps the workers.
Many workers are saying their futures are up in the air: They would rather know if they are going to lose their job or return to full-time work, she said.
There is some speculation that companies are using the top-up program to keep their employees dangling, so they don't find work elsewhere, added Collins, a Prince George resident.
She also noted the top-up does not provide workers their full wage.
Collins, however, is endorsing extending unemployment benefits for workers that have lost their jobs because of the forestry downturn. Residents that organized save-our-community rallies in Mackenzie and Fort St. James endorsed resolutions calling for extending unemployment benefits.
The two forest-based communities have been hit hard by the forestry downturn, led by a collapse in the U.S. housing market. In Mackenzie, more than 1,200 workers are off the job in the community of 4,700. Sawmills have also closed in Fort St. James, although one bankrupt mill was recently purchased by a new forestry firm, Vancouver-based Conifex.
Some mills in Fort St. James are on reduced shifts, as are sawmills in the Prince George area.
Dunkley Lumber, south of Prince George, has a sawmill on a three-day shift.
Dunkley Lumber manager Blair Mayes said he would like to see the issue of extending the top-up programs discussed during the federal election.
Harris said that 12-week extensions of the federal work-week top-ups is under consideration. It would be a discretionary call, and if the industry picked up, it could be dropped, he said.
The Conservative federal government did put up money earlier to help communities hurt by the forestry downturn and increasing global competition in other sectors. British Columbia received $129 million, some of which was earmarked for Fort St. James and Mackenzie.
"I think we're making some pretty good progress -- I think we'll weather this," said Harris.
No Liberal or Green candidate has announced a candidacy in Cariboo-Prince George.
Other candidates that have declared in Skeena-Bulkley Valley are Sharon Smith for the Conservatives, an incumbent Nathan Cullen for the NDP. In Prince George-Peace River Conservative incumbent Jay Hill, NDP candidate Betty Bekkering and Liberal candidate Lindsay Gidney are running for election.
