Sonoco paper mill in Quinte West closed Friday. A number of weeks ago the company confirmed it was consolidating its operations and work that is done at its Quinte West operation would be shifted to a plant in South Carolina. “My heart goes out to the entire community of Quinte West as we know the tremendous impact losing forestry jobs has on these rural towns,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “It is extremely disappointing that an agreement of sale could not be arranged with the present employer to save as many jobs as possible.”
A report by Canada News Wire says Quinte West has a long history as a forestry town with operations in the sector dating back to 1880.
“We’ve spent years trying to establish a forestry strategy for Ontario with the government, but sadly, we still don’t see any efforts to keep these good jobs here in the province,” said Naureen Rizvi, Ontario Regional Director of Unifor. “Premier Ford needs to be worried when family-supporting manufacturing jobs continue to leave this province.”
In a statement released to CNW, Unifor says it supported efforts to find a buyer for the facility that could have maintained many good-paying jobs.
