"Our members who grow seedlings for reforestation in B.C.'s forestry sector have approved strike action by a 96 per cent margin with a very high turnout," said Darryl Walker, president of the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union. "It sends a strong message to their employer that they are not prepared to accept concessions in a new contract."

PRT wants wage cuts of up to 17%.

The workers are legally allowed to strike with 72 hours of notice. However, the union has decided to seek mediation assistance from the B.C. Labour Relations Board to try and get talks back on track.

BCGEU members work at PRT tree nurseries in Red Rock, Campbell River, Summerland, Vernon, Armstrong, and Harrop.

Pacific Regeneration Technologies is now an income trust traded on the Toronto stock exchange. The company was originally set up after the B.C. government privatized its reforestation nurseries in 1988.

Source: Tree-nursery workers vote to strike (Prince George Citizen)

150 unionized workers will be off the job for 2 weeks - from July 31st until August 17th. This shutdown will reduce production by about 11 500 tonnes.

This is the third shutdown scheduled at the mill this year. Some workers had been banking vacation days for these periods of layoff, but have now run out of banked days.

The White Birch Paper Company acquired Papier Masson Ltee, a privately-held company, in 2006. Papier Masson is a modern, fully-integrated, low-cost producer of high-quality newsprint. White Birch Paper is the second largest producer of newsprint in North America.

Source:
Congé forcé chez Papier Masson (LeDroit)
(Google translation: http://tinyurl.com/knpdss)

The new, leaner structure will provide for enhanced efficiency and reduced costs.

"This is the right structure to lead us through both restructuring and emergence from creditor protection," stated David J. Paterson, President and Chief and Executive Officer. "As we progress through our comprehensive restructuring and filings, AbitibiBowater will continue to explore options to further reduce costs and enhance productivity, including the reduction of SG&A costs at Head Office."

A functional approach was taken in designing the new Executive Team, that will be comprised of 5 executives reporting to David J. Paterson:

• Alain Grandmont, Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Supply Chain, will take on a new role that merges the Company's human resources and supply chain functions.
• William G. Harvey, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will continue to oversee AbitibiBowater's finance and corporate development functions.
• Yves Laflamme, Senior Vice President, Wood Products, will continue to lead the Company's woodland and sawmill operations, wood products sales and wood fiber sourcing.
• Pierre Rougeau, Executive Vice President, Operations and Sales, will now lead operations and sales for both the Commercial Printing Papers and Newsprint divisions.
• Jacques P. Vachon, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Legal Officer, will continue to have responsibility for overseeing the Company's Legal and other corporate functions.

The appointments are effective immediately.

Also, as previously announced, Bruce K. Robertson will serve as Chief Restructuring Officer and work closely with the Executive Team. His primary responsibility will be to support Company efforts in the restructuring process stemming from AbitibiBowater's creditor protection filings.

Source: AbitibiBowater

Fraser Papers also announced that on July 13, 2009, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware granted the Company's motion for a recognition order recognizing the CCAA proceeding as a foreign main proceeding and granting ancillary relief, including a stay of proceedings.

The Court proceedings today also approved the terms of additional financing from the Government of New Brunswick which will be targeted toward the completion of the modernization of the Company's lumbermill in Plaster Rock, New Brunswick. Fraser Papers expects construction to commence in the coming weeks with completion targeted for the end of the third quarter.

The Court also granted Fraser Papers' request to commence a claims process to establish creditor claims that will require all creditors to submit claims to the Company for consideration. Claims under this process must be presented to the Company on or before September 30, 2009. Proof of claim information will be sent to creditors within the next 30 days and will be available on the Company's web site (www.fraserpapers.com) and the monitor's website (www.pwc.com/car-fraserpapers).

Source: Fraser Papers

Paper machines #1 and #8 will be down from Monday August 10th until Monday August 31st.

The closure will begin on July 20th.

Sales of their product will continue until the inventory is sold.

Production will resume when market conditions improve.

Source:
Industries Perron to take downtime (Random Lengths Woodwire)

Trivia: Did you know that Trois-Rivières was known as the pulp and paper capital of the world from the late 1920s until the early 1960s? The city once had four operating pulp and paper mills and several sawmills located along the St. Lawrence and St. Maurice rivers.

A provincial survey found the colder than average winter killed off most of the forest-killing pests in southern Alberta, but it wasn't enough to stem the tide in the north and northwest.

"These results show we need more than cold winters to be successful in our fight against pine beetles in our forests," said Sustainable Resource Development Minister Ted Morton. "That's why we continue to manage the spread of infestations by a variety of methods, including single-tree removals, stand-level harvest and controlled fires."

Read more:
Northern beetles survive - Winter not cold enough to eliminate forest-killing pests (Edmonton Journal)

Paper Machines #5 and #7 will be shut down on July 19th for one week.

The machines will restart on July 26th.