Xa

© Clockwise from the top left photo are Diane Littlejohn, a packager and insp.

ector at Domtar-Sunoco container in Prescott; Bob

Hubbard (plant chairman), matching maple wood grains at Thompson Heyland Ltd.'s Burkes Fall furniture component plant;
Keith Millar and Brian Hodge, rackers at Tembec Inc.’s hardwood flooring plant in Huntsville; and local financial secretary Earl
Chaput (1) and 1-1000 president Joe da Costa in the basement office at Brother Chaput’s home in Pembroke.

Local 1-1000

(continued from page 6)

FREE TRADE THREATENS
MEMBERSHIP

More than a year after the Canada-
US. Free Trade Agreement has been
signed by the Mulroney government,
Canadian manufacturers are being
directly affected by the deal.

In north-central Ontario, some IWA-
CANADA members are employed in a
sector to be hit hard by Canada’s ris-
ing dollar, high interest rates and
declining tariff against U.S.-based
goods made with cheap labour.

At Thompson Hyland Ltd.’s Burkes
Fall dimensional furniture component
mill, where maple and birch furniture
components are manufactured for cus-
tom orders, the next 2 years will be a
very trying time for the company.

The rising Canadian dollar, the
Mulroney’s government's plan of har-
monizing Canada and U.S. dollar is
having a serious impact on the com-
panies’ ability to economically pur-
chase red oak from the north east
United States.

Seventy union jobs rely heavily on
a low Canadian dollar and the con-
tainment of competition from Ameri-
can companies exploiting dirt-poor
labourers in Tennessee and Pennsyl-
vanila.

Thompson Hyland is the single
largest employer in the town of 1000
people.

Food container plant
uses recycled fibre

BRANTFORD, ONTARIO — For
more than three decades, producers of
paper container products have been
able to use recycled paper time and
time again in the production of egg
cartons and food container trays.

Here at Cascades Dominion Inc.’s,
130 employee plant, about 50 tons of
varying recycled paper grades are
used daily in the production of the
products for Canadian and U.S.
markets.

e Craig Holmes, dry end operator,
bundling egg cartons.

Cascades Dominion Inc., a Quebec
based multinational with its head-
quarters in Kingsey Falls, Quebec,
has abandoned the industry’s prac-
tice of producing ozone harmful poly-
styrene egg containers in October of
1988 and has moved its entire produc-
tion line to utilize recycled fibre.
More than 4 years ago the company
spent $4.5 million on a styrofoam
extruder to become an all around
producer of egg carton products. In

September of 1988, due to consumer
demand, Cascades decided to get out
of the styrofoam market within 6
months.

Local 1-500 Sub-local Union Chair-
man, Jim Ott says that the move out
of styrofoam containers caused layoffs
to 18 union members but that the
effect of the move should create longer
term job stability.

The company has been increasing
its market share with the new envi-
ronmentally conscious consumer mar-
ket and plans to increase its produc-
tion schedule to 7 days a week by late
February 1990, thereby creating
re-employment for these laid off
workers.

Cascades move to 100% production
with recycled fibre is also consistent
with IWA-CANADA’s national forest
policy. Our union strongly endorses
such environmentally sensitive pro-
duction of packaging products.

The plant utilizes various grades of
used paper including recycled tele-
phone books, (both white and yellow
paper), newsprint and shredded com-
pute print-out paper.

There is no need for Cascades to
de-ink any of its recycled paper as
company specifications for the raw
material stipulate that into should
not exceed 10% of the materials’ sur-
face area.

During the recyling of yellow pages
with black ink, the pulp is recycled
into a green coloured product. Al-
though the fibre lengths of recycled
paper, once shredded and boiled, are
considerably shorter than that of vir-
gin pulp, a chemical polymer is added
to create bonding of the shorter fibres.

Within Canada, Cascades is unable
to secure a supply of recycled paper

on a consistent, year round basis.
Much of its raw material, which
arrives in 600-1000 pound bales, is
purchased from recycling plants in
N.Y. State, Pennsylvania, Illinois
and Massachusetts.

During the production process the
raw material is mixed with high tem-
perature water and is beaten with
high speed knives to create a pulp-like
soup which has a consistency of only
2.5% pulp.

Molds pass through the pulp and
water mixture and a suction screen
takes up precisely enough material to
form the shape of the product.

Subsequently the wet container is
super heated in an oven at a tempera-
ture of 350 degrees F before being
transferred to an inspection and pack-
aging end of the production line.

Quality control requirements are
stringent as each container is care-
fully examined for defects.

Cascades is presently developing a
vegetable oil based ink to replace its
petroleum based ink. The move will

: Sie

° Bill Poor with a 1000 pound bail of recycled telephone book trim.

make their products close to 100%
environmentally sound.

Materials Manager, Jim LeClair,
says the company has also responded
to consumer preference by packaging
its finished containers in cardboard
boxes made of recycled fibre.

The company supplies the Ameri-
can fast food chains of McDonald’s
and Wendy’s with food containers. It
also supplies 50% of the Canadian egg
container market with the most of its
production going to major supermar-
ket chains nationwide.

Within 4 years the company will be
competing in the North American
market place. At present the com-
pany continues an agreement with
the Package Corporation of America
to not interfere in each others markets.

Cascades has operated the plant for
the past 2 years since taking over
from the giant Diamond International
Corporation. Since 1956, the IWA has
retained certification in the plant
despite various changes in ownership
and management.

ie

12/LUMBERWORKER/MARCH, 1990