Bowater talks continue despite fear

But they’re still willing to try, he said.

“What they’re scared of is it seems that it doesn’t matter what you do. If you’re pegged for closure, you’re pegged for closure.”

Employees at four mills on the last list of plants that are or will be closed “gave oodles and oodles of concessions,” he said, yet they still lost their jobs.

“It’s damned if you do and damned if you don’t and that kind of makes you scared.”

He said he would like to feel good personally about Liverpool’s ice-free harbour and close proximity to international markets through Halifax but, “If you’re looking for logic, you can’t hang a hat on it with these shareholders.”

However, he said unionized employees through their representatives are working with the company to help during these times of high power rates, a weak market and a high Canadian dollar.

“The union locals are doing their job, doing whatever they can to help.” He added they are always looking for ways to become more efficient in the face of the plant’s ever-shrinking workforce.

Besides, he says, “Things might turn around in another year or so.”

Wentzell said the number of issues on the table is large in number, starting with negotiations over losing 49 positions at the plant next Feb.

“We’re continuing to discuss locally with the company, of course, what we can do to help them but we’re going to lose 49 jobs, regardless of what’s on the table.”

He said they hope to reduce the impact through early retirement and severance packages, for example.

In addition, he said, “We’re discussing how to become more flexible.” One example is cross training.

On the larger front, union local representatives have been traveling as of late. They recently went to Montreal for talks with company officials and representatives from other Eastern Canada locals – Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario - and are returning next Feb.

They are discussing opening up their collective agreements early, which weren’t going to expire until May 2009.

They company wants concessions from its employees.

Wentzell explained, “There’s a national agenda and in Eastern Canada, we do what you call is pattern bargaining.”

He said they negotiate local issues “at home,” which include such items as flexibility and seniority, to name just two examples.

“Every mill has its own distinctive – what we call – language.”

The union locals in Eastern Canada then work as a group on such monetary issues as pensions, benefits, and wages.

Each union local then tries to utilize this pattern as the basis of each collective agreement.

Wentzell said, “The last time Abitibi set the pattern and achieved the pattern. Now, they’re setting up a new pattern.”