NANAIMO, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 1, 2014) - Western Forest Products Inc. (TSX:WEF) and United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 -
It is an unbelievable loss that we are all faced with in the aftermath of this tragedy, none more so than to the families of those directly impacted and we know that mere words cannot express the sorrow that is being felt.
"Western Forest Products and United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 will continue to focus efforts on working together to ensure that the families, workers and everyone else directly affected in the operation gets the help they need through grief counselling or any other means," said president and chief executive officer Don Demens. "The well-being and safety of our employees is of paramount importance."
"On behalf of the entire Local Union, I express our sincere condolences and heartfelt thoughts to the families, friends and co-workers of each and every person affected by the tragic and shocking events at the Western Forest Products mill in Nanaimo yesterday," said United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 President Brian Butler. "We are here to support all those affected in any way we can."
Western Forest Products and United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 wish to thank all of the organizations from across Canada who have expressed their well wishes and support. At this time, given the tragic situation and the ongoing investigation, it is requested that the privacy of employees and their families is respected without exception.
Western Forest Products has closed all mills and timberlands operations on Vancouver Island out of respect for our colleagues. Critical incident stress counsellors are working with employees and their families.
We will continue to cooperate fully with all authorities and the RCMP will be releasing information as their investigation proceeds.
Western Forest Products
Western is an integrated Canadian forest products company and the largest coastal British Columbia woodland operator and lumber producer with an annual available harvest of approximately 6.4 million cubic metres of timber of which approximately 6.2 million cubic metres is from Crown lands and lumber capacity in excess of 1.1 billion board feet from eight sawmills and two remanufacturing plants. Principal activities conducted by the Company include timber harvesting, reforestation, sawmilling logs into lumber and by-products and value-added remanufacturing. Substantially all of Western's operations, employees and corporate facilities are located in the coastal region of British Columbia while its products are sold in over 25 countries worldwide.
United Steelworkers (USW)
The United Steelworkers (USW) is Canada's largest private-sector union with 225,000 members working in every region and economic sector in the country.
Contact Information:
778-887-5367