Tolko's Kelowna Lumber Mill To Remain Closed for Six Weeks

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Tolko Industries announced that its Kelowna lumber mill operations will take downtime for a period of six weeks from August 6^th to September 15^th this year. High log costs and weak market conditions impacting the B.C. forestry sector in general, are cited as the reasons for the proposed downtime. The employees are already informed about the decision.

The affected employees are left with three options. Firstly, they can use up their paid holiday, if they have any. Secondly, they can stay unpaid for a week, till they become eligible for employment insurance. The third option is to combine paid holidays and employment insurance. The company informed that the marketing and sales team will remain on the job. Meantime, Tolko announced that managers will be available to provide assistance to employees with any of their queries.

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Troy Connolly, Vice President of Solid Wood, Tolko stated that the company prefers to keep its locations in constant operation. However, the announced downtime is part of company’s efforts to manage their businesses in the most responsible and sustainable manner. The decision is made with a lot of consideration for the people working at the location, he said. Furthermore, he expressed fears that the challenging industry conditions in B.C. is likely to continue for some more time.

This is the second big blow to Kelowna lumber mill operations. Earlier in May this year, the company had announced reduction from two shifts to one, thereby impacting 90 employees.