Union says layoffs at Manitoba paper mill Tolko ‘deer-in-headlights stuff’
THE PAS, Man. — A spokesman for Canada’s largest private-sector union says word that a big northern Manitoba forest products plant is shutting down has left staff at the mill stunned and feeling “pretty gutted.”
Tolko Industries has announced that the plant near the town of The Pas will close Dec. 2, putting 332 employees out of work.
Paul McKie, the national representative for Unifor, says employees were not expecting such harsh news from Tolko, which bought the Manitoba Kraft Paper and Sawmill Operations in 1997.
He says the pulp-and-paper industry is in decline and any chance of keeping the town’s largest employer open appears remote because no one is lining up to buy forestry plants these days.