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SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 | Volume 29 No. 117
A CALL FOR A CITY LIVING-WAGE POLICY ANDREA KLASSEN
STAFF REPORTER
andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
KTW FILE PHOTO The Tolko mill in Merritt will close in December, leaving 203 people out of work. The company cited a reduction in the annual allowable cut as a result of the completion of the pine beetle harvest.
Another forest-sector setback TOLKO CLOSURE IN MERRITT LEAVES ONE SAWMILL IN CITY CAM FORTEMS
STAFF REPORTER
cam@kamloopsthisweek.com
The planned closure of Tolko’s Merritt sawmill by the end of the year — throwing 200 workers out of a job — is the latest in 15 years of joblessness and permanent shutdowns in the Interior’s forest sector. Citing a lack of timber, Tolko Industries Ltd. announced this week it will close its Nicola Valley sawmill in December — a major
job loss in the community of 8,000. The move will leave the city with just one sawmill, Aspen Planers, where it once had five. Marty Gibbons, president of Steelworkers Local 1-417, has seen closure of mills in Valemount, Clearwater, Louis Creek, Canoe, Merritt and Kamloops. In a statement, privately held Tolko Industries Ltd. blamed a wood-supply review. The resulting timber reduction follows the end of elevated cut levels
for pine beetle-killed lumber. Gibbons said the closure was not expected. “We’ve heard rumblings,” Gibbons said. “There’s been suggestions. But, yes, it did catch us by surprise.” Family-owned sawmill Ardew Wood Products in Merritt closed in January 2012 after 47 years of operation. The closure, blamed on a lack of timber, led to 55 job losses. See TRANSITION, A6
A Kamloops city councillor would like to see the city adopt living-wage policies for its staff and contract workers, but a discussion at council isn’t likely to happen unless groups promoting the issue show up at city hall. Coun. Donovan Cavers said he spoke with members of the city’s Changing the Face of Poverty committee about a livingwage policy after last year’s recycling strike, in which workers for Emterra — which sorts recyclables on contract for the city — cited low wages as the main issue of concern. “I support anyone that’s working for the city being paid a wage that would allow a decent standard of living,” Cavers said, adding he had expected a presentation on living wages to come to council at some point after that. A pair of B.C. cities have policies in place requiring their staff and
contractors to be paid at least a living wage. Several more are in the process of putting bylaws in place. Earlier this month, Quesnel officially adopted its policy, which sets a baseline wage of $16.52 per hour. Vancouver is in the midst of setting up its policy, which will require it to spend just under $600,000 more on its janitorial, graffitiremoval and securityservices contracts, to bring wages to a baseline of $20.64 per hour. Kamloops’ living wage was last calculated at $17.21 an hour, according to a report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Living Wage for Families Campaign issued in April. The rates are designed to cover the basic expenses of two working parents with two young children, including rent, child care, food and transportation, and includes deductions for subsidies, tax
WHAT IS YOUR VIEW? The living wage in Kamloops has been pegged at $ 17.21 an hour by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The living wage refers to the hourly wage earned by each of two working parents with two young children. Do you make more than the living wage? Do you think the City of Kamloops should adopt a living wage? Send your thoughts to editor@ kamloopsthisweek.com. credits and the like. While several councillors expressed some support for living-wage policy, Mayor Peter Milobar said it could bring difficulties for the city. He noted New Westminster, the first city in B.C. to adopt the policy, has struggled to ensure its contractors are paid the minimum amount. See SOME, A7
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