The provincial government has stepped into the longest coastal forest industry strike in history. Nearly 3,000 Western Forest Products’ employees and contracted workers at six Island manufacturing plants and timberlands around the coast have been on strike since July 1. The Province is bringing back mediators Vince Ready and Amanda Rogers with special powers under the Labour Relations Code to help bring the eight-month dispute between Western Forest Products and the United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 to an end. If an agreement is not achieved, the special mediators will have the authority to write recommendations to both parties and B.C.’s labour minister, and both sides will have five days to accept or decline the recommendations.
