Paperworkers in Canada Ratify Bowater Contract

CEP members ratified by 95% the master paper-mill collective agreement for eastern Canada with Bowater late last week. The agreement follows one with Abitibi-Consolidated last year, and covers 2,400 paperworkers at five mills. The CEP won an unreduced early retirement provision, and 11% pay increases over five years. “With this strong ratification vote, our members have achieved the wage and pension improvements in the pattern agreement, and the company has secured five years of labour stability,” said CEP President Brian Payne. It was the first bargain between the CEP and Bowater, a US-based newsprint firm that took over the Canadian mills only a few years ago.