With the on-going economic turmoil many people are worried about their future employment and that is quite understandable. I have a hard time getting excited about financial matters, (or as Peter Griffin would say; “Unlike my credit card, I carry a very low interest level”)
What is interesting to me are the ongoing challenges the unions must go through at the AV groups in Nackawic and Atholville. I have union brothers at both mills and I got quite a lot of feedback during the holidays. Of course many of the brothers and sisters are worried about closures since both places closed and were sold in the last 15 years.
Paper markets have always been up and down, usually at seven year intervals. But with the advent of recycling and development this trend has practically disappeared. Nackawic used to make paper for Kodak but the boom of the digital camera has taken care of that.
So in comes Tembec and the Aditya Birla Group of India looking for cheap mills and hungry workers. Atholville was the first to get into dissolving pulp business which is the main raw material used in the manufacture of viscose staple fiber or aka rayon. After a seven year closure the workers there were ready to accept anything and the AV group knew it too. They signed a seven year contract at almost 25% lower than the national average pulp market salary and took a cut in every section of the union book. But you will do what you have to do to work, right?
Where am I going with this?
Back in November, AV Nackawic and AV Cell narrowly escaped a temporary shutdown in because of a slowing global economy and too much inventory. CEO Peter Vinall was quoted as saying that "unprecedented market conditions exist worldwide and that has resulted in mills across the country contemplating temporary closures or moving ahead with them. If it happens in Nackawic or in Atholville, it will be a reflection of those conditions.”
More recently, Vinall said he would leave at the end of this year to pursue another job in the industry and shouldn't be viewed as an omen that bad times are in store for either the Nackawic mill or at Atholville's AV Cell.
While the first was good news before the holidays, I don't take Peter Vinall's word too seriously. Yes, the economic crisis is a worldwide one and market situations are hardly stable but the Nackawic mills as well as its predecessor AV Cell in Atholville are not producing pulp anymore, they are producing fiber. Fiber is used to make clothing which will mainly supply India, China and other Pacific-Asian countries, totaling billions in population. Vinall and the AV group are well known to cry wolf when things look bad as to encourage the union into giving more and expecting less. Atholville is near contract negotiation time again. Plus, closing down a mill in the middle of winter is extremely expensive and the AV Company is a penny-pinching group and their thought process is wholly centered on making a buck…period!
What is interesting to me are the ongoing challenges the unions must go through at the AV groups in Nackawic and Atholville. I have union brothers at both mills and I got quite a lot of feedback during the holidays. Of course many of the brothers and sisters are worried about closures since both places closed and were sold in the last 15 years.
Paper markets have always been up and down, usually at seven year intervals. But with the advent of recycling and development this trend has practically disappeared. Nackawic used to make paper for Kodak but the boom of the digital camera has taken care of that.
So in comes Tembec and the Aditya Birla Group of India looking for cheap mills and hungry workers. Atholville was the first to get into dissolving pulp business which is the main raw material used in the manufacture of viscose staple fiber or aka rayon. After a seven year closure the workers there were ready to accept anything and the AV group knew it too. They signed a seven year contract at almost 25% lower than the national average pulp market salary and took a cut in every section of the union book. But you will do what you have to do to work, right?
Where am I going with this?
Back in November, AV Nackawic and AV Cell narrowly escaped a temporary shutdown in because of a slowing global economy and too much inventory. CEO Peter Vinall was quoted as saying that "unprecedented market conditions exist worldwide and that has resulted in mills across the country contemplating temporary closures or moving ahead with them. If it happens in Nackawic or in Atholville, it will be a reflection of those conditions.”
More recently, Vinall said he would leave at the end of this year to pursue another job in the industry and shouldn't be viewed as an omen that bad times are in store for either the Nackawic mill or at Atholville's AV Cell.
While the first was good news before the holidays, I don't take Peter Vinall's word too seriously. Yes, the economic crisis is a worldwide one and market situations are hardly stable but the Nackawic mills as well as its predecessor AV Cell in Atholville are not producing pulp anymore, they are producing fiber. Fiber is used to make clothing which will mainly supply India, China and other Pacific-Asian countries, totaling billions in population. Vinall and the AV group are well known to cry wolf when things look bad as to encourage the union into giving more and expecting less. Atholville is near contract negotiation time again. Plus, closing down a mill in the middle of winter is extremely expensive and the AV Company is a penny-pinching group and their thought process is wholly centered on making a buck…period!
I am not worried about my union brothers and sisters of the AV Group, they will shut down eventually, for upkeep and maintenance, but that’s it. One thing people have to remember is that both these operations are no longer “pulp mills” but are now “chemical mills”. They smell worst, they’re more dangerous and the company runs them on a very strict inventory. Their health is at risk on the long term but it is work. Don’t begrudge the unions demand for better wages and better health coverage. These are difficult times but it is imperative that union members stick together for the best of all union members.
Peace brother!
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