(Montreal) The big union Unifor has appointed Resolute Forest Products to negotiate the model labor contract that will be used for talks in the paper industry in eastern Canada and which concerns some 15,000 members.
Updated yesterday at 12:22 p.m.
And the appetite of the workers is great, warned in an interview Monday Renaud Gagné, Quebec director of the Unifor union, which is affiliated with the FTQ in Quebec.
Traditionally, the contract that is negotiated with the target company then serves as a model for negotiating in other industries in this sector in Quebec, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces.
“Once the model is established, employers who do not want to follow it risk having a labor dispute,” explained Mr. Gagné.
The model contract addresses issues such as salaries, benefits and pension plan. More “local” issues such as schedules vary from company to company, depending on the needs.
Resolute was chosen because the company has several sectors of activity, such as pulp, newsprint, supercalendered paper, explained Mr. Gagné. Also, the rule is that the designated company must be present in at least two provinces.
“Resolute has already been selected in the past by Unifor to be used to establish its model contract, so this is not a first for us,” said the employer, for its part.
Salary appetite
The salary issue will be at the heart of these negotiations, while we are in an inflationary period and there is a scarcity of labor in the sector, reports Mr. Gagné.
Unifor, which also bargains in big companies other than the paper and forestry industries, says workers everywhere have high expectations now.
“The demands are so great because of the cost of living that people don’t accept the 2.5%. It’s 3, 3.5 or 4% that must be on the tables, when it’s not a major catch-up. And the other element that adds to that is the lack of manpower,” explained Mr. Gagné.
According to him, the geopolitical situation is also favourable. “The lumber industry has made so much profit for almost two years. And the scenario is likely to continue. Why ? Because Russia will export less to North America and British Columbia has reduced its export capacity by 40%. Therefore, the prices are likely to be maintained in a rather important way”, underlined Mr. Gagné.
The employer is ready. “Once again, we are going to approach the exercise with all the seriousness that it requires. As for the timetable for negotiations, it will be established jointly by the parties over the next few days,” Resolute said.