IROQUOIS FALLS – There will not be a Merry Christmas for many people in Iroquois Fall this holiday season.
Resolute Forest Products, the largest employer in the small Northern Ontario community announced on Friday morning they will be closing the town’s long time mill as of December 22.
Unifor Local 90 union president Peter Jones said this all came as a huge shock to everyone.
“This is not good situation,” Jones said. “We were told on November 25 that we would be running through Christmas.”
He said he received a notification Thursday telling him to be at a meeting at 8:15 Friday morning.
“This is when we were told we would never see another Christmas here,” Jones said. “I know there's a lot of frustration, of course that's going to be natural, but the timing is unbelievable. This is the mother mill. This was the first Abitibi mill.”
Jones said management met at 8 a.m., followed by meetings throughout the day with all the employees in the mill’s various departments, and phone calls were made to anyone who was off to advise them of the closure.
“We will be receiving official letters on Monday regarding severance packages and payouts,” Jones said. "After that we are not sure what will happen.”
Meanwhile, Dale Romain, president of the Iroquois Falls and District Chamber of Commerce, said this decision will have an immense economic impact to the community.
“The Abitibi Pulp and Power Company began in Iroquois Falls and grew into a company expanding worldwide,” Romain said. “This closure not only affects the local economy but the history of this town and its role in the development of the paper industry. The wealth of natural forest product that Mr. Frank Anson discovered is still at the doorsteps of Iroquois Falls.”
Romain said it is with great disappointment we receive the news of the mills permanent closure on Dec. 22, 2014.
“Resolute under all its changes has been an integral part of the Iroquois Falls community for 100 years,” Romain said.
Romain said with the selling of the hydro dams a few years ago and increased transportation costs the competitive advantages for this local mill were ultimately negatively impacted or sacrificed.
“The selling of dams has now left the local mill like many Northern Ontario businesses at the mercy of increasing hydro rates that affect not only Iroquois Falls but all of Northern Ontario as it strives to compete in the global market,” Romain said.
Romain said the news of yesterday’s closure was devastating to the community.
“But we will work together with industry, business and government to face the challenges that are ahead,” Romain said.
Romain said those 180 jobs at the mill being lost is a big deal.
“The tax base that the mill provides is extremely important to this community so we have to look at something whether we can attract new industry to our area and this isn't something that happens overnight,” Romain said. “We only have a few short weeks. Our council as well as other municipalities will certainly have a big challenge facing them. The writing is sometimes on the wall. No one wants to believe that it can happen but unfortunately for us in Iroquois Falls it did happen. We have to deal with it. We have to find creative solutions.”
Jones said counsellors will be available to all employees at the mill.
He said some people may be retained for a little bit after the closure but as of February the heat will be shut off in the mill for good.
“We were told it was a board decision and market decision,” Jones said. "And that the mill was not for sale.”
Jones said it is still too early to tell if something can be done to keep the mill open.
“We will be meeting on Monday with the MP, MPP’s, all the union representatives at the mill, and even our national union representative will be here so that we can hash out some plans,” Jones said.
