Tolko workers approve new contract

Sawmill and woodland workers with Tolko Industries in The Pas have voted to accept a new three-year deal.

Chris Parlow, United Steelworkers Union local president, said the deal includes a wage hike of 14 per cent — two per cent this year, two per cent next year, and a 10 per cent increase to match the wage cuts made in 2006 to save Tolko from closing.

But Parlow said there's still no word on when laid-off workers will return to work. About two-thirds of the 170 unionized workers have been laid off since January.

The company has previously blamed the poor economy and weak lumber sales for the layoffs. Parlow said it's the longest layoff in the history of Tolko's sawmill in The Pas, located about 720 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

He did not want to say what percentage of voting members agreed to accepted the new contract.

"We're not prepared to discuss that right now because the only percentage that we're really concerned about right now is the percentage of our members that currently still are laid off," he said. "That has been front and foremost for us to deal with over the course of the last number of months when negotiating."

The company hasn't commented.