Tolko lays off sawmill workers

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This article was published 21/01/2009 (6102 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tolko Industries Ltd. is indefinitely laying off up to 70 workers at its sawmill operation in The Pas in the wake of waning North American lumber markets.

The company’s plant manager, Dave Neufeld, was unavailable for comment late this afternoon, but a union official said the laid-off workers have been told the company hopes to recall them by late spring or early summer.

"It’s just devastating news because we’ve been faced with layoffs over the course of the last year on numerous occasions that have really taken their toll," said Chris Parlow, president of Local 1-324 of the United Steelworkers Union.

The most recent layoff saw the sawmill idled for about a month, ending Jan. 12. But this past Friday, the union received a two-week notice of indefinite layoffs that would take effect Feb. 1, Parlow said.

Tolko’s solid-wood division at The Pas employs 115 workers. About 45  — those who unload logging trucks and run the wood-chip operation — will be not be affected by the layoff.

The company’s kraft paper mill at The Pas will continue to operate, a company spokeswoman said.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca