Western Forest Products has temporarily ceased its sawmill operation in Port Alberni, putting 90 employees out of work.
The company curtailed the Alberni 91原创 Division mill in mid-October, citing a challenging market amid log-supply shortages, and saying there is no date on when the mill could restart.
“We will continue to monitor markets and log availability to determine when we can resume operations,” the company said in a statement.
Western Forest Products said it is working to “mitigate the impact on our people by offering opportunities to work at other Western locations where we can.”
The shutdown in Port Alberni follows another hit for mill workers in Crofton, where Paper Excellence announced the indefinite curtailment of paper production starting Dec. 1.
That shutdown will affect about 150 employees.
Last month, about 400 unionized workers at the Crofton mill voted in favour of strike action, seeking wages similar to other unionized mill workers in the province.
Paper Excellence said in Oct. 21 statement that negotiations were stalled, and there have been no updates from either side.
