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| Unions want forestry issues on election agenda |
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2006/1/20
Union leaders say the crisis in the forest industry is having a profound impact on New Brunswick's people and its economy.
Supporters of forestry workers hoping to catch the attention of federal politicians staged a rally in Bathurst Monday to send a message that their struggling industry is being ignored.
The troubles in his hometown of Bathurst struck Tom Mann the minute he arrived from Fredericton for the rally. "As a child I can remember coming home and complaining about the rotten egg smell and my father would say 'Don't complain about that, that's the smell of prosperity.'"
But the director of the New Brunswick Union says that smell – and 270 jobs – left when the pulp mill closed last August.
Mann says Bathurst is an example of what's happening in mill towns across the country. But he says governments and the public still think of the problem as a rural issue only.
"One in eight New Brunswickers has their income related to the industry. You can't deny that whether you're in Saint John, Moncton or Fredericton," Mann said. "This industry is key to the economic viability of this province."
Union leaders are calling on federal candidates to bring forestry issues to the national stage. They're hoping rallies in 14 communities across the country Tuesday helped to do just that.
The NDP and Conservative candidates in Bathurst were both at the rally. The local Liberal candidate Marcelle Mersereau arrived later, but said she'd support any call for a task force on forestry that would involve all three levels of government. |
| Source:http://www.cbc.ca |
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