Leaders
of Canada’s largest forestry union are calling on Government of Nova Scotia to
step up to the plate, following today’s announcement of the indefinite closure
of the Resolute Forests Products mill in Brooklyn, N.S. “We
call on the government of Nova Scotia to immediately purchase the private
forest lands owned by the company to ensure the citizens of Nova Scotia have
access to forest-dependent jobs and their community for the long run,” says
Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of
Canada.
The owner of the troubled paper mill in Brooklyn is
putting off $25 million worth of upgrades, prompting questions about the
future of the operation on Nova Scotia's South Shore.
Resolute
Forest Products, owner of the Bowater Mersey paper plant, was offered that
money in the form of a capital loan last December as part of a $50-million
rescue package to secure 2,000 jobs. The
company was supposed to buy new machinery to make the mill more productive
and energy-efficient. |
