Conifex Timber Inc. and Hampton Lumber announced today that Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations, and Rural Development has approved the sale of Conifex’s Fort St. James sawmill and associated forest license to Hampton Lumber.
Conifex announced in June that it would be selling it’s sawmill to Hampton for $39 million but it has been pending government approval since that time.
Following that, Conifex ceased operations, leaving at least 226 employees out of work and causing the district to implement a state of financial crisis. In the wake of that, some United Steelworkers Union 1-2017 employees said they have had little to no contact with the Union representatives on whether or not they would receive severance pay for their years of work.
According to Union President Brian O’Rourke, the collective agreement between them and Conifex states that employees are only entitled to severance pay if the mill is permanently closed and not in the situation of a sale.
In a media release, Hampton Lumber CEO, Steve Zika said, “We’re excited about the tenure transfer approval and will work diligently with Conifex to complete the acquisition process. After the sale becomes final, we’ll have further information to share with the community regarding our short-term plans for managing the timber license and the mill site. We continue to work with First Nations and the community on long-term plans to develop a community-based sawmill operation that we can all be proud of.”