Canfor Reaches Agreement with USW on 14 British Columbia Operations

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Canfor Corp., Vancouver, B.C., Canada, announced this week that it has reached an agreement with the United Steelworkers union. The agreement, expiring June 30, 2013, was ratified by a majority of union members and affects 14 operations in British Columbia.

"This agreement sets a new positive tone for our industry. It provides some relief from the economic issues we are facing and a profit based performance bonus that will reward our hourly workers," said Canfor President and CEO Jim Shepard. "This sets the stage for enhancing the teamwork approach at Canfor that will lead to high performance at all of our operations," Shepard added. The new agreement applies to approximately 2,300 Canfor employees.

Canfor has Canadian operations in British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec. It has U.S. operations in Washington state, and North and South Carolina. The company produces primarily softwood and also produces oriented strand board (OSB), remanufactured lumber products, and specialized wood products. Canfor also owns a 50.2% interest in Canfor Pulp Limited Partnership, which is one of the largest producers of northern softwood kraft pulp in Canada and a producer of high performance kraft paper.