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29 January, 2007
The Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada used 22 January as a National Day of Action in Canada to expose a government devoid of effective policies on halting job losses in the pulp, paper, and the forestry sector. Together with local branches, the CEP waged a massive e-mail campaign aimed at MPs and Premier Stephen Harper, and conducted a symposium in Ottawa on the jobs crisis.
CEP also aired radio advertisements across Canada, demanding urgent action from Parliament on the issue.
“The industry is facing unprecedented hardship impacting on more that 300,000 Canadians who depend on it for their livelihoods,” said CEP President Dave Coles. “There are solutions to this crisis, solutions based on the fair treatment of workers and their families, sustainable forest practices, value-added productivity, and more. But the first step is to break the silence and open discussions with all parties affected.”
The CEP symposium on Parliament Hill heard from labour leaders, elected officials from affected areas, representatives from the Forest Products Association of Canada, and members of Parliament. Coles said, “The survival of dozens of communities are threatened, and yet we have had very little response from the federal government.”
The CEP reported at an ICEM statutory meeting last year that, in the preceding two years in the paper sector alone, 34 full, partial, or permanent mill closures had occurred, costing 7,000 jobs.