Steelworkers’ union calls for urgent meeting with Doug Ford to save Terrace Bay’s largest employer

TORONTO – The leader of the United Steelworkers (USW) union in Ontario is calling for an urgent meeting with Premier Doug Ford to ramp up efforts to re-open the AV Terrace Bay pulp mill, the northwestern Ontario community’s largest employer before it closed six months ago.

The pulp mill, owned by the India-based Aditya Birla conglomerate, was indefinitely idled in early January. The mill employed 400 workers, including 270 USW members, and was the economic engine of Terrace Bay (population 1,600) and nearby communities including Terrace Bay, Schreiber and Pays Plat First Nation.

Renewed efforts are needed from all stakeholders, in particular the Ford government, to re-open the mill, says Myles Sullivan, Director of USW District 6, which covers Ontario and Atlantic Canada.

Sullivan has sent a letter to the Premier and to the government’s Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, Graydon Smith, requesting a meeting “to discuss how we can revive the pulp mill, get 400 people working again and give their communities hope.”

“The closure has had negative ripple effects in the Northern Ontario communities of Terrace Bay, Schreiber and Pays Plat First Nation. Forestry jobs in the region are threatened, and small and medium-sized businesses are hurting and in some cases, have also shuttered,” Sullivan’s letter states.

“The AV Terrace Bay closure has meant that families have been living in uncertainty for most of the last six months, and it remains unclear whether, or how, their government will support them.”

The letter notes that immediately following the mill’s closure in January, the Ford government pledged to “explore all options for reviving operations at the AVTB mill, and support the Terrace Bay community throughout this process.”

Three months later, in April, “Minister Smith was quoted saying, ‘We will leave no stone unturned to try and get that mill out of idle and active again,’ ” Sullivan’s letter points out.

“Premier and Minister, stones remain unturned, and workers, families and communities need your help,” the letter adds.

“I am inviting you both to meet with USW District 6 leadership to discuss how we can revive the pulp mill, get 400 people working again and give their communities hope. This pulp mill is vital to this region and our province cannot afford to lose these operations and the jobs and businesses they support,” the letter states in closing.

The union also will be reaching out to business operators in Terrace Bay and area communities to engage in discussions on working jointly to revive the pulp mill, Sullivan says.

Prior to its idling, the mill produced premium-grade pulp used in the manufacture of products including tissues, toilet paper and paper towels.

Click here to view the USW letter to Premier Ford and Minister Smith.

About the United Steelworkers union:

The USW represents 225,000 members in nearly every economic sector across Canada and is the largest private-sector union in North America, with 850,000 members in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.

Each year, thousands of workers choose to join the USW because of the union’s strong track record in creating healthier, safer and more respectful workplaces and negotiating better working conditions and fairer compensation – including good wages, benefits and pensions.

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