ORES? AND ENVIRONMENT Firing up efforts to save the woods? Filmon report calls on B.C. government to take action on interface fires FOLLOWING THE DRAMATIC forest fires of 2003, the B.C. government appointed former Manitoba premier Gary Filmon to head up a review team to analyze how effective the province’s emergency response was and what can be done to reduce the risks of future fires, especially in interface areas, where residential properties and forests meet. After meeting with various stake- holders and receiving some 400 sub- missions, Filmon issued the 2003 Firestorm Review in February. The gov- ernment, which has slashed the forest protection budget by 32 per cent, elimi- nating 35 per cent of jobs in that area, and has since taken $2 million out of the fire preparedness budget, nonethe- less is depending on the review to steer things in the right direction. Lastyear 2,500 fires bumt up a record 25,000 hectares in B.C. Thirty-seven of those fires were in urban areas, the most dramatic which was in Kelowa. IWA - Local 1-417 lost the _ | Tolko Louis Creek | mill and 180 jobs. The Filmon report says more must be done to eliminate the fuel buildup on forest a floor, especially in Gary Filmon interface Seas http://www.2003firestorm.gov.bc.ca/fi restormreport/default.htm for the reports recommendations which cover- prevention and preparedness, emer- gency responses, emergency manage- ment, command and control, commu- nications and public education, firefight- ing resources, evacuations, and post emergency recovery. PHOTO COURTESY B.C. FOREST SERVICE = Last summer B.C. forest fires claimed over 250,000 hectares. PHOTO BY NORM GARCIA & Jobs at the Cowichan Bay lumber mill and other solid wood operations are an important part of the IWA Canada. Doman getting a restructuring Bondholders agree to a plan which should maintain jobs : A B.C. SUPREME COURT has approved a restructuring plan that will see the financially insolvent Doman Industries get closer to a complete restructuring by the end of July. On June 11, the judge ruled that there would be a transfer of Doman’s assets to unsecured creditors who would agree to refinance secured bank notes. The result is that a new outfit named Western Forest Products Inc. will be publicly listed on the Toronto stock exchanges. Doman, (which also owns Doman- Western and Western Forest Products) had over $1 billion in debt and was in bankruptcy proceedings since late 2002. It agreed to a temporary restruc- tuting deal organized the Brascan sub- sidiary, the Tricap Restructuring fund. About 70 per cent of Doman’s annu- al cut is held on Vancouver Island, where it employs Local 1-80, Local 1-85 and Local 2171 members. Most of the wood that it cuts come from three tree farm licenses that contribute to around 11 billion cubic meters of timber har- vests per year. The company has licens- es on North Island (in the Port Hardy area), the Gold River area, southwestern Vancouver Island, the North Coast (in the Inside Passage, south of Kitimat, north of Bella Bella and north of Bella Coola. There are also various crown licenses scattered through the main- land coast and coastal/interior fringe. “Our members have been facing a lot of uncertainly over the past year and a half,” says Duncan Local 1-80 president Bill Routley, whose local represents about 500 Doman mill workers and log- gers. “Unfortunately the Domans, which generally respected and worked with organized labour and the IWA over the years, will no longer have control. What could happen down the road is anybody's guess.” Founder Herb Doman started the company with one _ logging truckin 1955 and grew Doman into a major player in log- ging, sawmilling i Local 1-85 president Monty Monty Mearns yeas says that Jocal members working for Doman were called back in the spring and are very concemed about two issues: the future of ‘Western and where the 20 per cent claw- backs will hit the membership. Local 2171 president Darrel Wong says loggers on the Island and Coast and the mill crew in Vancouver have been told that it will be business as usual. He says there could be some longer term benefits if financial stability is achieved and hopes that both sides can develop positive labour relations. Town of Hudson Bay shows doubts about Weyerhaeuser Since the February 26 announcement that Weyerhaeuser is selling its Hudson Bay plywood plant and Carrot River sawmill, there have been many questions asked about the com- Ppany’s commitment to workers and communities in Saskatchewan. The . Town of Hudson Bay has pointed out publicly in a local newspaper that, since it bought out MacMillan Bloedel in 1999, Weyco has broken several commitments. The latest move to sell the two mills has eroded community confidence in the major industry. The Town has offered to work with the government and the company to secure and buyer/operator for the ply- wood mill and ensure long-term sus- tainability. The company says that the operations no longer fit into their “strategic focus.” IWA Local 1-184 president Paul Hallen says Weyco move to sell-off the mills has caught the union, workers and communities off-guard. “For us the number one job is to work with all parties to ensure, in a positive way, that a purchaser is found and the mills continue to provide steady employment in the communities,” he said. Following the startup of OSB 2000 in Hudson Bay, Weyco closed OSB 1000, despite a projection, based on Weyco business studies, to run it in some capacity for 10 years. Despite obligations under its Forest Management Agreement to maximize social and economic benefits to com- munities, Weyco has by-passed local suppliers, cut logging, forestry and woodlands employment and has elim- inated long time contractors. “A lot of the folks in the Hudson Bay and Carrot River areas, even business peo- ple, don’t take Weyerhaeuser’s word seriously any more,” says Hallen. Paul Hallen 1G c] , THE ALLURD, WORKER,IUNE 2006...