Category Archives: Protest

More than 50 unionized Kruger’s Corner Brook Pulp and Paper workers had a quiet demonstration at the gates of the mill at shift change this morning in Newfoundland.

The workers are drawing attention to the number of contractors Kruger is employing after laying off several dozen unionized workers.

While the main gate was the site of the demonstration, some workers also gathered at the east gate that is most often used by contractors. The workers didn’t disrupt the traffic flow.

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Workers at Kruger‘s Corner Brook Pulp and Paper mill in Newfoundland and Labrador held a demonstration this morning before reporting for their shifts.

The workers were protesting Kruger’s decision to hire contract workers for maintenance duties.

Dwayne Avery, vice-president of the union representing millwrights and machinists, said workers are upset that Kruger Inc. is not hiring displaced mill employees first.

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On Thursday (October 6th), workers of the former Fraser Papers plant will hold a news conference in Edmundston, New Brunswick to officially launch the Victims of Brookfield Association as part of an awareness-raising campaign.

“The aim is to unite retired and active employees affected by the bankruptcy of Fraser Papers,” said Clyde Winchester, president of the Edmundston Retirees Committee. “The Edmundston Association of Retirees and the Retirees Association of Thurso, Québec, have joined forces to form the Victims of Brookfield Association. ”

Since Fraser Papers went bankrupt, retired and active employees have suffered a loss of over 30% of their pension plan.

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Forest workers protested in Nanaimo, British Columbia yesterday afternoon over the province’s continued export of raw logs.

Hundreds of workers and their supporters gathered for a march and rally in the downtown. The rally was sponsored by the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada.

Not all were support of the protest. The B.C. Private Forest Landowner’s Association claims the exportation of raw logs supports B.C.’s local economies.

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The Grassy Narrows First Nation (Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek) won a major victory yesterday in their more than decade long battle to stop clearcut logging in Grassy Narrows’ traditional territory in Northwestern Ontario.

Grassy Narrows Chief and Council welcome the decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to protect the rights promised to the Anishinaabe from interference by the province of Ontario. Madam Justice Mary-Anne Sanderson’s decision, over 300 pages in length, finds that the Government of Ontario does not have the power to take away the rights in Treaty 3 by authorizing development including logging and mining.

This decision will set the stage for proper recognition and protection of those rights and, even more importantly, will help protect the Anishinaabe way of life in Northwestern Ontario. Grassy Narrows hopes that this will be a turning point in this battle. We expect that real protection for the endangered boreal forest and our way of life will be put in place immediately.

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The British Columbia Supreme Court has granted an injunction which restrains Canadian Forest Products Ltd. (“Canfor”) from engaging in timber harvesting activities within a culturally vital portion of Ilk K’il Bin Territory known as Redtop.

Through Kelah, the Wet’suwet’en Chief responsible for the Territory, the Wet’suwet’en have continuously – with considerable struggle and sacrifice – occupied, used and relied on Ilk K’il Bin since well before first European contact down to the present day. Justice Dillon found that “the relationship to particular lands … defines the social structure of Wet’suwet’en society, that places the land as the foundation of cultural identity, and that determines the structure of governance.”

Kelah and the House Group of Ginehklaiyex have taken steps to protect culturally significant ecosystems for over a hundred years. The BC Supreme Court has acknowledged the Hereditary Leader’s authority and responsibilities over their territory. Kelah and other Wet’suwet’en chiefs fought for this recognition in the Delgamuukw\Gisday wa case and now have that recognition. This ruling is a victory as in the past it has seemed that corporate interests have trumped Aboriginal rights.

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Retired union members held a rally this week in Fort Frances, Ontario to raise awareness of changes AbitibiBowater is making to their pensions, changes that they have not agreed to.

Dozens of retired members of the International Association of Machinists Local 771 and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 1744 carried signs that read “Abitibi Don’t Play Around with Our Pensions” and “We Worked Hard Four Our Pensions”.

At issue is a new pension plan AbitibiBowater is imposing on the union locals that contravenes the terms of the “biomass agreement” struck early in 2007 where the unionized workers gave up their right to strike in that collective agreement so that in return, AbitibiBowater Fort Frances was able to get a big biomass boiler with an uninterrupted payback period for the rest of the agreement.

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Members of the Algonquin First Nations have chained themselves to trees this morning in the Beaver Pond Forest, near Ottawa, Ontario.

Developers are scheduled to clear a 29 hectare section of the forest to make way for a residential development.

The new subdivision was approved by Ottawa’s city council 7 years ago.

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Environmentalists want areas of the boreal forest protected from logging.

Forest companies want the environmentalists to stop the anti-forestry marketing campaigns against their company.

This week both sides come together to draft a preliminary deal that will effectively freeze all logging in selected regions in exchange for a halt to international marketing campaigns against Canadian products by environmental groups such as Greenpeace.

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Tolko had originally planned to log in the Brown’s Creek Watershed during the winter, but a road blockade by the Okanagan Indian Band prevented the company from accessing the area by road.

Tolko has a court-approved archaeological plan for logging in the area. The archaeological plan includes harvesting on both a snow pack and without. The company was not able to harvest during winter, so they will now move to harvest in snow-free conditions.

Pleased that the snow is melting, the Okanagan Indian Band has temporarily withdrawn their request to set aside an enforcement order concerning Tolko Industries logging in the Brown’s Creek Watershed.

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