La négociation collective au tournant du millénaire: le cas des travailleurs chez Columbia Forest Products à Hearst

Abstract

At the beginning of the 21st century, the arrival of multinational corporations forever changes the dynamics between workers and management in the forest industry in Hearst, Ontario. This article examines the unfolding of events as well as major changes made to the collective agreements signed between the Hearst workforce and Columbia Forest Products, an American plywood producer, over approximately a decade. The negotiating process is inevitably reshaped when some family sawmills are sold to industry giants. The economic context also plays a fundamental role (notably the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber dispute) in the signing of collective agreements, as the Northern Ontario forestry sector faces a series of crises. Time and time again, unionized workers must forfeit part of their historic gains in order to try and save their jobs.