Catalyst Paper, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, has reached labor agreements with unions representing more than 1,000 paper and pulp workers at the company’s Crofton, Port Alberni and Powell River mills. The new contracts will go into effect at the expiration of the union’s current contract on April 30, 2012.
Kevin Clarke, Catalyst president and CEO, says, “Approval of the new labor agreements lets everyone know that the people who make up Catalyst are taking the actions necessary to save jobs and ensure we have a viable and competitive business for the future. We appreciate there is still an enormous amount of work to do to complete the restructuring plan that will enable the company to exit creditor protection on solid footing going forward.”
The agreements include a 10 percent reduction in hourly rates along with various adjustments to vacation, health benefits and work rules necessary to provide Catalyst with a competitive labor cost structure.
While the company has reached a labor agreement with its union workers, the paper company is seeking court approval to either close or sell its pulp and paper mills if its creditors do not approve a restructuring plan similar to one they have already rejected.
In an undated letter to creditors filed in the British Columbia Supreme Court, Clarke called for creditors “to give serious attention” to the restructuring plan. Secured and unsecured creditors are to vote on the plan in March, according to the Vancouver Sun.
The report says documents submitted by Catalyst also are seeking approval on a deal to sell the company’s idled Elk Falls pulp mill at Campbell River, B.C., to Schnitzer Steel, a scrap metal recycling company headquartered in Oregon.
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