12 February 2009
McGuinty Lets Buchanan Forest Products Off the Hook
Miller renews calls for passage of Bill 6 to guarantee severance pay for workers

QUEEN'S PARK—A thousand laid-off workers at Thunder Bay’s Buchanan Forest Products would be guaranteed their severance pay if the McGuinty government had passed Bill 6, says NDP MPP Paul Miller (Hamilton East—Stoney Creek), who proposed the legislation in late 2007.

Miller’s bill, An Act to Amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000, passed second reading debate in December 2007, but has since been held up in committee by the McGuinty government. The bill would create an Employee Wage Security Program to compensate laid-off workers might otherwise not receive severance, vacation pay and back wages.

“It’s simply unfair that Buchanan is using bankruptcy laws to avoid paying workers’ severances. If the McGuinty government didn’t stall Bill 6, Buchanan workers would be guaranteed their hard-earned wages and benefits,” said Miller.

NDP Forestry Critic Gilles Bisson (Timmins—James Bay) agrees.

“First, the McGuinty government turns a blind eye to rising job losses in the forestry sector, and now it remains silent when a forestry company sticks it to its workers,” said Bisson.

Miller and Bisson are both imploring the McGuinty government to move ahead with Bill 6.

“Dalton McGuinty has held up this important bill for more than year. It’s time he stops letting business interests off the hook so that workers can receive the protection they deserve,” said Miller.

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Media Contact: Paul Miller (416) 325-0707

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