Tag Archives: NewPage Port Hawkesbury

Yesterday, May 9th, the Government of Nova Scotia introduced legislation that could result in better pension benefits for the workers and pensioners of the NewPage mill in Port Hawkesbury.

“Government recognizes that buying annuities in today’s market could mean a significant loss of benefits for NewPage employees and pensioners,” said Minister of Labour and Advanced Education Marilyn More. “We are taking steps today to give these women and men an option that could result in some market recovery and some restoration of lost value.”

Within six months of a pension plan closing, its administrator prepares a financial report that compares the value of the plan’s assets with its obligations. After that report is approved by the province’s superintendent of pensions, annuities are purchased to provide plan members future pension benefits.

NewPage’s four pension plans are underfunded. If annuities were purchased now, pension benefits would be reduced by up to 40 per cent.

The bill introduced this week would give the NewPage pension plans up to 11 years to recover from low investment returns and interest rates. While there are no guarantees about future market performance or interest rates, long-term performance has been positive.

It would also give members information to help them make their choice, the right to opt in or opt out of the extended wind-up, and an annual update of how the plan is doing each year of the extended wind-up.

“This bill will give our pensions a chance to grow and to take advantage of higher interest rates in the future,” said Archie MacLachlan, vice-president of Local 972 of the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union, which represents NewPage’s unionized workers. “Our members understand that there are risks involved in the stock market and that interest rates may remain low for many years.”

Three of the NewPage pension plans are for unionized workers in the mill, office and clerical positions and woodland operations and the other is for salaried, non-unionized workers. As of Sept. 30, 2011, the four plans included 646 active employees, 763 retired members, 46 inactive members and 53 deferred members.

Source: Government of Nova Scotia

The Nova Scotia Government has listened to the pensioners of NewPage Port Hawkesbury and has indicated they will table legislation to delay the windup of NewPage’s underfunded pension plans.

Premier Darrell Dexter said he has discussed the proposal with non-unionized employees and the Communications, Energy and Paperworks Union, and said his government will give the idea “speedy consideration,” but couldn’t say when the legislation will be tabled.

The new owner of the mill, Pacific West Commercial, is not taking ownership of the pension plans of the previous owner – NewPage. Pensioners are hoping the pension plan will not be wrapped up immediately, because that will mean each worker will lose up to 30% of the value of their pension.

The premier says delaying the windup could help pensioners because the value of the plan could increase if the stock market recovers.

Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie says he supports the move to deal with pension plans that are underfunded by more than $100 million.

Source:
N.S. to delay windup of NewPage pension (CBC)

After 16 days of meetings between Stern Partners (Pacific West Commercial Corp.) and the CEP representing the workers of the former NewPage Port Hawkesbury mill, a contract proposal is on the table.

At a meeting tomorrow night (Thursday), the workers will be presented with the details of the proposed contract.

Workers will not vote on the proposal at the meeting, but they will decide if they want to vote at a future date.

CEP Local 972 spokesperson Steve MacDougall said, ”It has been a very gruelling couple of weeks. We sat down, went over the documents, and we negotiated in good faith- we are now waiting on our members to see what they think of the whole deal.”

If the workers decide not to vote on the contract, Stern Partners may walk away from their offer to purchase the Port Hawkesbury paper mill.

Source:
Local union officials set to present mill workers with contract proposal

The NewPage Port Hawkesbury mill was granted another extension for its creditor protection period by the Nova Scotia Supreme Court today.

This extension is for 60 days.

The company wanted 90 days, but only 60 days were granted.

NewPage’s lawyer, Ben Durnford, said the company was looking for 90 days to allow the company to proceed with a hearing with the Utility and Review Board and to save on the cost of another court appearance if it was granted a shorter extension.

Judge Michael Wood said it was important to keep all of the parties’ “feet to the fire” and move things along.

The court wants updates on a number of matters that are still outstanding.

Purchase negotiations with Pacific West Commericial Corp. are continuing.

Mill Manager Tor Suther had said if protection wasn’t extended, he believed NewPage’s creditors would start proceedings against it and that would eliminate the ability to complete a successful going concern sale.

The mill has been idled since September.

Sources:
Cape Breton paper mill up for sale gets another extension on creditor protection (Cape Breton Post)
NewPage wins more time to finish sale (CBC)
NewPage officials receive creditor protection extension (101.5 The Hawk)

Talks were held for 3 days over the weekend between the CEP and Pacific West Commercial Corp. over the sale of the idled NewPage Port Hawkesbury mill in Nova Scotia.

Both sides have committed to a media blackout so little is known about the progression of the negotiations.

Talks are on hold due to a prior commitment of Pacific West Commercial Corp. Future talks are planned, but it is not known when.

“The only thing that we’ve been instructed to say is that we have met with the Stern Partners for the first round of talks, and due to obligations they have elsewhere, those talks broke off for now, but not for any other reason than that, and we have planned future talks,” said Steve MacDougall, recording secretary for the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Local 972.

Ron Stern, the man behind Pacific West Commercial Corp., has said he is only interested in operating the supercalendar paper mill and not the older newsprint machine. Many of the former workers of the mill will not have jobs to return to if the deal to sell the mill to Pacific West Commercial Corp. is finalized. Also, the workers have a pension fund that is underfunded by $140 million – a deficit that Ron Stern will not touch.

Pacific West Commercial Corp. has also been negotiating with Nova Scotia Power and the province of Nova Scotia.

Read more:
Latest NewPage talks wrap up (Cape Breton Post)
NewPage, union talks on hold (Chronicle Herald)
Strait Pressure (Chronicle Herald)

NewPage Corporation has released its financial information for 2011.

The company is reporting a net loss of $524 million in 2011 compared to a loss of $693 million in 2010.

Net sales for 2011 were $3,502 million (a 3% drop from 2010).

Sales volume decreased to 3,954,000 tons in 2011 compared to 4,370,000 tons in 2010 as a result of the shutdown of the Whiting mill in February 2011 and the Port Hawkesbury mill in September 2011.

Total liquidity at December 31, 2011, was $254 million, consisting of $127 million of availability under the DIP revolving credit facility and $142 million of available cash and cash equivalents, reduced by a required $15 million of minimum cash and cash equivalents on hand.

NewPage commenced voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. on September 7, 2011. NewPage’s Canadian subsidiary, NewPage Port Hawkesbury, is similarly under protection from creditors. NewPage paid a $25 million settlement in exchange for being relieved of all liability associated with NewPage Port Hawkesbury. NewPage no longer has control of its Port Hawkesbury assets and have deconsolidated NewPage Port Hawkesbury from its consolidated financial statements.

A narrative year-end report is available at www.NewPageCorp.com.

The Cape Breton Post is reporting today that frustration is mounting in the Port Hawkesbury area of Nova Scotia over the future of their mill.

The community is waiting to hear if proposed sale of the idled NewPage Port Hawkesbury mill to Pacific West Commercial Corp. will be completed, and ultimately, how many jobs will be restored at the mill.

Port Hawkesbury Mayor Billy Joe MacLean said that the community has now heard that Pacific West Commercial Corp. has completed its negotiations with Nova Scotia Power and the negotiations with the union representing the workers is about to begin.

MacLean said said the long months since the mill’s indefinite shutdown was announced in August have taken a toll on the region and the workforce. He said each week two or three employees are leaving the area for jobs out West, and many are “leaving and not coming back.”

“The longer this goes on the more frustration, the more anxiety in the community,” he said.

Read more:
Frustration mounting in Strait area as mill negotiations continue (Cape Breton Post)

The workers of the idled NewPage Port Hawkesbury mill in Nova Scotia have filed a lawsuit for $168 million against the company.

The employees, represented by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (Local 972) are owed severance, pensions, and other benefits.

The claim was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Tuesday.

Because NewPage is in a period of creditor protection, claim is contingent on the company being wound up and it being unable to pay the debts that it owes the union, its members and the pension plans.

“It doesn’t put us on a secured creditors list or any of those things we would like to see happen, but it puts us in the lineup for any money that may be available by the end of the process,” said Steve MacDougall, CEP Local 972′s recording secretary.

Breakdown of the $168 million

$127 million – mill division pension plan
$14 million – clerical pension plan
$14 million – woodlands pension plan
$7.16 million – severance to mill employees
$557,000 – severance to clerical division
$456,000 – severance to woodlands division
$5 million – long-term disability benefits

The lawsuit also states that the administrator of the pension plan is also filing a claim against the company for the funding deficiencies.

Source:
NewPage workers suing company for $168M (The Cape Breton Post)

Hodgson’s Chipping Ltd. will be closing up its operation in Truro, Nova Scotia this spring.

The company has been in business for over 40 years and has progressed from being a two-man and one-horse logging show to one of Nova Scotia’s largest logging contractors.

Over the years, the company has focused on producing wood chips for Northern Pulp and NewPage Port Hawkesbury.

The company isn’t in financial trouble, yet, but they feel there is no other likely outcome for their business.

Among the current problems facing the company are:

• Nova Scotia’s decision to reduce clearcutting by 50% over 5 years
• Low price paid for chips and wood by the mills
• High cost of fuel
• Labour shortage
• Shortage of viable softwood

Hodgson’s Chipping Ltd. supplied 85% of its product to Northern Pulp, while the other 15% went to NewPage Port Hawkesbury.

Company president McKay Hodgson said Nova Scotia’s regulations on the forestry industry, such as the recent mandate to reducing clearcutting by 50% over five years, are going to kill the business. In fact, McKay’s eldest son Vaughn, one of 4 sons who help run the business, believes the new forestry regulations kill of all of Nova Scotia’s pulp mills.

“The government came up with the genius idea of controlling the way the wood is cut in Nova Scotia without our input.

“It (would have) cost us more money to produce that wood because of those regulations. It was going to be on our backs to do the extra work that had to be done. Northern Pulp was not going to pay for it.”

“With the way the pulp companies in general treat the contractor, there’s going to be more to follow.”

“They treat them with no respect. Zero. They just think that there’s a never-ending supply of contractors, that when one lies down or goes under there’s just going to be somebody else to fill his boots.”
~Vaughn Hodgson

The closing of the NewPage mill hurt Hodgson’s Chipping, leaving the company out $142,000.

Concerning the labour shortage, Vaughn Hodgson told The Chronicle Herald, “The people are leaving Nova Scotia because we can’t afford to pay them really what they’re worth, because we’re not getting enough money to do what we’re doing.”

Mike McLarty, Timberlands Manager for Northern Pulp, said it will be “challenging” to find an alternative supplier when Hodgson’s closes.

Hodgson’s Chipping Ltd. plans on phasing everything out between now and mid-April. All the equipment will be auctioned off through Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers near the beginning of May.

“We have some 160 pieces going in the auction,” said McKay Hodgson. “There’s trucks, processors, forwarders — machines that haul the wood out of the woods — chippers and grapple skidders.”

Hodgson’s Chipping Ltd. employs about 70 people.

Sources:
Forestry firm to close, leaving 70 jobless (Chronicle Herald)
Local forestry contractor citing government for spring closure (Truro Daily)
The Chipping Route (Canadian Biomass)

NewPage Port Hawkesbury was granted an extension to its creditor protection period in court today.

The company and its receiver Ernst & Young now have until the end of March to negotiate a final sale agreement with Pacific West Commercial Corp.

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, who represents the workers at the mill, are eager to negotiate a collective agreement with Pacific West.

The union’s recording secretary, Steve MacDougall, said he expects Pacific West will sit down with the union once the company irons out agreements with Nova Scotia Power and the provincial government.

The judge also approved the appointment of Peter Wedlake of Green Hunt Wedlake as chief restructuring officer.

Read more:
NewPage workers anxiously await negotiations (Chronicle Herald)
Paper mill gets creditor protection extended (Metro Halifax)