Tag Archives: Fraser Papers

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada is disappointed a court decision has blocked a civil suit in Quebec against the Directors of Fraser Papers.

The CEP is representing Fraser Papers retirees from Quebec and New Brunswick who had their pensions cut by up to 40% when their employer filed for bankruptcy protection.

The pensioners claimed the directors of the former Fraser Papers were grossly negligent in their management of the pension plan.

Fraser Papers was majority-owned by Brookfield Asset Management which organized the restructuring of Fraser Papers to escape its pension obligations.

“We were taken advantage of by a multi-million dollar corporation,” says Clyde Winchester, president of the Edmundston retirees association, and one of the victims of Brookfield.  “Our politicians, also our lawmakers let it happen and now the judicial system is failing us.”

“This decision reveals again how broken and unfair our pension system is” said CEP President Dave Coles.  “We are very disappointed in the decision on the Quebec case and we regret that our Quebec members cannot pursue this case against the Fraser Brookfield Directors.  However we will continue to pursue every legal and political opportunity in New Brunswick and Quebec to win a measure of justice.”

Source: CEP

Fraser Papers retirees from Quebec and New Brunswick, who had their pensions cut by up to 40% when their employer filed for bankruptcy protection, will be at the Superior Court of Justice inToronto on Friday when their former bosses challenge their case.

Directors of Brookfield Asset Management (Fraser’s parent company) are challenging a law suit by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada that says the directors of the former Fraser Papers were grossly negligent in their investment decisions.

Fraser Papers was 70% owned by Brookfield Asset Management and operated pulp and paper mills at Thurso, Québec, and Edmundston, New Brunswick before the company was restructured under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangements Act (CCAA) in 2010.

“Brookfield Asset Management has repeatedly refused to pay these retirees what they are owed,” says CEPPresident Dave Coles, who will also be at the hearing. “The company took advantage of CCAA laws to take away their hard earned pensions,” he says.

Clyde Winchester, president of the Edmundston retirees association formed to fight back against what he calls “corporate pension theft” says “companies should not be allowed to play with corporate laws and take advantage of the most vulnerable.”

The Victims of Brookfield Association brings together some 800 retirees each from former Fraser operations in Edmundston and Thurso, Que., who have lost between 30% and 40% of their pensions as a result of moves made under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.

Source: CEP

Here is a video made by Operation Maple featuring the Victims of Brookfield.

The Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) filed legal actions in February in Quebec Superior Court against the directors of the former Fraser Papers, owned by Brookfield Asset Management.

“Our legal struggle on behalf of the pensioners and workers of Fraser Papers has now begun,” says CEP President Dave Coles. “This is about fairness for retirees and workers who lost almost 40% of their pensions. The directors of Fraser Papers must now be held to account.”

The Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada has filed legal actions in Quebec Superior Court against the directors of the former Fraser Papers, owned by Brookfield Asset Management.

“Our legal struggle on behalf of the pensioners and workers of Fraser Papers has now begun,” says CEP President Dave Coles. “This is about fairness for retirees and workers who lost almost 40% of their pensions. The directors of Fraser Papers must now be held to account.”

“We will announce additional legal actions in the coming weeks that address the injustices to our pensioners and members in New Brunswick,” adds Coles.

“CEP contends that the directors of Fraser Papers were grossly negligent in their duties to our members,” says CEP Quebec Regional Vice-President Renaud Gagné.

“The company took care of its shareholders but pensioners and workers lost their retirement security. We are asking the Quebec court for justice for these retirees and workers.”

The suit filed in Quebec Superior Court yesterday for $11.7 million is in response to the investment decisions of the directors of the former Fraser Papers. Fraser Papers was majority-owned by Brookfield Asset Management and operated pulp and paper mills at Thurso, Québec and Edmundston, New Brunswick before the company was restructured under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangements Act (CCAA) in 2010.

A majority of Fraser’s debt was to its employee pension plan and the restructuring resulted in large cuts to retiree pensions.

The union has also assisted Fraser retirees and family members organize in Quebec and New Brunswick in the “Victims of Brookfield Association” which has a Facebook Page and a Twitter account that tells the personal hardship stories of the Fraser pensioners.

Source: CEP

Letter to the editor

I worked at the Fraser Papers’ mill in Edmundston, New Brunswick for 36 years. On each pay cheque, I contributed a portion of my wages to the pension fund, which I believed would be a guaranteed investment.

In 2009, with talks of a potential bankruptcy at Fraser, I decided to withdraw my pension plan with the aim of securing my assets. I signed documents and withdrew the first pension payment that I was entitled to. Unfortunately, I was able to benefit from my full pension for only three months. Having given 36 years of my life to Fraser Papers, I got a full pension for three months. In other words, one month of pension for every 10 years of service!

In October 2009, I saw my benefits thin out by 35.4%. No longer being able to live within my means, I had to return on the job market. My search for a job was quite difficult since I have health issues. During a five-month period, I sent 134 résumés and got three part time jobs at minimum wage.

Given that my wife has health issues, such as diabetes, I had no other option than to return to work on part time basis at minimum wage. I also have health problems; I have to take medication on a regular basis in order to be able to complete my work.

What frustrates me is that there was a written contract with Fraser Papers guaranteeing my pension. I invested in that pension for more than 36 years. Why, but why must I have to pay for the deficiencies in the Canadian laws and for the abuse by Brookfield Asset Management?!

Why the Occupy movement? Because too many laws in this country are about protecting big corporations, not workers. This is just my true story of how.

Jacques Sarlabous
Edmundston, NB

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.

“We support the work of our retirees in this fight, which affects not only the victims of Brookfield but also the victims of current Canadian corporate bankruptcy laws,” said Dave Coles, CEP National President. “We will continue our work until Brookfield is brought to justice.”

Other guests such as Michel Boudreau, President of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour, will be on hand to bring their support to the campaign.

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) is the largest union in several key sectors of Canada’s economy, including forestry, energy, telecommunications, and media.

Source: CEP

Creditors at a special meeting in Toronto today have approved Fraser Papers‘ amended restructuring agreement today by a vote of 94%.

Last month, creditors voted against Fraser Papers restructuring proposal because they did not feel it was in the best interest of the company’s pensioners.

Under the new restructuring plan, Fraser Papers has said it will pay unsecured credit claimants a maximum of $500 a piece, using the funds remaining after paying off secured creditors.

On Thursday, the company will go to an Ontario court to seek approval to implement their plan. A similar request will be made in a U.S. court on Friday.

The company has already sold off its mill in Thurso, Quebec for $3 million, spun off its specialty paper assets to the new Twin Rivers Paper Company, and is in the process of selling its remaining assets including a paper mill in Gorham, New Hampshire, and two lumber mills in northern Maine.

Source:
Fraser Paper says its creditors have approved new restructuring plan (The Canadian Press)

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP) and other major creditors of Fraser Papers today voted down the proposed Plan of Arrangements to complete the CCAA restructuring of the company.

The plan sponsored by Brookfield Asset Management was rejected by the pension plan creditors of the former Fraser Papers which together cast $185 million against the plan out of a total of approved claims of $317 million.

“Thousands of pensioners and workers have suffered brutal cuts as a result of the actions of Fraser and Brookfield,” says CEP President Dave Coles.

“Brookfield’s offer did not recognize the harm it has inflicted, and the company sought in this plan to be relieved of any liability for negligence or wrongdoing in these matters.

“In the interests of our retirees and members we said no to this plan.”

Source: CEP

Fraser Papers has filed an appeal against the pension decision of the Superintendent of Pensions that further cuts the pensions of former Fraser Papers employees in New Brunswick.

When Fraser Papers entered creditor protection last year, their retirees lost 31% of their pension plan. Now, with the recent pension decision, their pensions will be cut a further 4.4%.

Fraser Paper’s pensioners in New Brunswick are also preparing an appeal to the Labour and Employment Board, in case Fraser Papers withdraws its objection.

Fraser Papers, still under creditor protection, faces a vote on its restructuring plan on January 10. The company has sold its assets in New Brunswick to Twin Rivers Paper Company Inc. and is looking to sell its lumber mills in Maine and a paper mill in Gorham, New Hampshire.

The company plans to use cash and other assets from the sell-off to make payments of up to US$500 to every unsecured creditor.

Read more:
Fraser Papers to appeal pension decision (Telegraph-Journal)

Twin Rivers Paper Company is permanently closing its sawmill in Juniper, New Brunswick.

The sawmill has only operating intermittently over the last several years.

It is not yet known where the Crown land timber allotment will be reallocated.

Three Rivers Paper Co. was created in May 2010 from the insolvent papermaker Fraser Papers Inc.

Besides the few employees that were still at the small mill in Juniper, Twin Rivers Paper employs about 1,300 workers, more than 550 of them in Edmundston and at the company’s other sawmill in Plaster Rock.

Read more:
Juniper sawmill to close permanently (CBC)