Workers prepare for the worst at Harmac
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Hours before the fate of the Harmac mill was determined in a Vancouver courtroom Wednesday, workers carried on with their duties, resigned but hopeful.
“What can we do?” said Kevin Malone, a millwright and 31-year veteran at Harmac. “It’s out of our hands, but this whole thing is a crying shame. In my opinion, this mill can still be very profitable.”
A 48-hour notice was issued Monday for the mill’s bankrupt owner, Oregon-based Pope & Talbot, to either sell the mill or have it go idle.
Wednesday afternoon’s decision, which was to come after press time (please check our website at www.nanaimobulletin.com for updates), leaves 535 jobs hanging in the balance.
The deadline for a last-minute deal with Asia Pulp & Paper, which backed out of a purchase agreement at the final minute last Friday, was 5 p.m. yesterday.
A flicker of hope remained with workers, as APP was still at the negotiating table as the deadline loomed. If that attempt fails, there are no other buyers interested and the mill’s two remaining operating pulp lines will grind to a halt.
“The big concern for a lot of guys is getting their own tools out of there in case they lock the gates,” said millwright Brian Rintala.
“If those gates get locked, it could be weeks before workers can get back in to get their possessions.”
Rintala has seen this scenario before. He worked at the now defunct Island Phoenix Division for three decades before signing on at Harmac four years ago.
“This is a second go-around for me,” he said. “It doesn’t get easier. The uncertainty is tough to deal with.”
For third-year millwright apprentice Steve Noble, facing a mill closure isn’t how he wanted to start his career.
“I don’t know what I’d do,” he said Wednesday morning. “ I’m from here so I don’t really want to leave Nanaimo.”
Noble said Pope & Talbot sponsors his apprenticeship, which is just one year shy of completion. If the mill closes, that sponsorship is terminated and he will need to look elsewhere for work.
“My dad worked [at Harmac] for 29 years, but he left to go north and work at the Caribou mill because of what is going on here. My grandpa lives here and I help look after him so I guess I’d go on EI for awhile.”
Jerry Tellier, president of the Pulp, Paper and Woodowrkers Union, Local 8, said Wednesday morning he planned address the mill’s union members once he heard of the decision from Vancouver.
Indonesian-owned APP had signed a purchase agreement with Pope & Talbot in February to buy Harmac and two other mills – one in Mackezie, B.C. and another in Oregon – for $105 million, but withdrew that agreement before it was slated to take over operations at midnight April 30.
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