Brooklyn, N.S., mill workers face 4th shutdown

A mill in southwest Nova Scotia is closing for five weeks — the fourth such shutdown since December.

The union representing nearly 300 workers at the AbitibiBowater paper plant in Brooklyn, near Liverpool, got the news on Thursday.

Courtney Wentzell, president of Local 141 of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, said the company has been rotating shutdowns among its mills.

"They've been squawking about taking a million tonnes off the market, so I don't know if there are going to be more permanent closures. We're gravely concerned," he said.

The Brooklyn plant will be closed from Aug. 29 to Oct. 4.

The last shutdown ended in mid-July. Workers were also off the job for several weeks in the spring and around the Christmas holidays.

The company blames market conditions and the downturn in the economy.