Abitibi meets with union reps and town as workers brace for bad news

People in central Newfoundland braced for bad news Wednesday as they waited for one of the region's major employers to announce details of restructuring, including layoffs.

AbitibiBowater, owners and operators of the paper mill in Grand Falls-Windsor, is expected to announce drastic changes by the end of the week.

Company senior vice-president Luc Lachapelle, along with another company vice-president, were in Grand Falls-Windsor Wednesday to meet with mill managers, union leaders and mayors from the region.

The union leaders met with the vice-presidents Wednesday afternoon. Gary Healey, representative for the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, which represents the mill workers, told CBC News that he can't say how many people will lose their jobs at the mill. However, he said the company is expected to make that announcement Thursday.

There was public speculation that between 80 and 100 people could be laid off.

Healey also said the company would not make any investment in the mill. The union had been calling on the company to invest tens of millions of dollars.

Meanwhile, mayors from the town as well as nearby Botwood and Bishop's Falls were scheduled to meet with the company around the supper hour.

No one from the company was available for comment Wednesday.

Like other newsprint producers, AbitibiBowater has been slashing capacity for several years, including a string of mill closures that affected its other mill in Newfoundland. The Stephenville mill was idled in 2005.

In April, the company announced it was cutting 13 managerial jobs from the Grand Falls-Windsor plant, from 58 to 45, a move that was expected to save the company $1.3 million.

In early August, AbitibiBowater reported a net loss of $251 million for the second quarter.