Strike commences at LKSM Forestry LP on Vancouver Island

VICTORIA, British Columbia, June 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Friday, June 6, 2025, United Steelworkers union (USW) Local 1-1937 members went on strike against La-kwa-sa-muqw Forestry LP (LKSM) because of the significant concessions they are demanding. Those concessions include, but are not limited to, demands that LKSM be able to bring in non-union contractors to do work that is now performed by the USW members on site. This includes work performed by both USW members working directly for LKSM, as well as USW members working for contractors on site.

LKSM is also refusing to agree to many of the crews’ proposals, including many that have been accepted by over 90% of employers on the B.C. Coast, when the USW and Western Forest Products Inc (WFP) ratified a new six-year agreement in January of 2025. The contract for members working for LKSM expired on June 15, 2024.

USW members voted 93% in favour of strike action in late March. After several bargaining sessions with the company since that time, the company has refused to remove their concessions, leaving the union members with no alternative but to commence strike action.

LKSM LP is the former WFP Mid Island Forest Operation which remains majority owned by Western Forest Products Inc. USW members at LKSM are entitled to the same rights as all unionized forest workers have on the Coast of B.C., and this company is seeking to undermine those long held rights.

“By striking against LKSM our members are fighting for all workers as they strike against these unwarranted concessions. The members know that if they do not fight LKSM’s concessions, they will spread to other workplaces. These USW members, like the USW members that struck and won against massive WFP concessions in 2019/20, are fighting for all of us,” stated Brian Butler, USW Local 1-1937 President.

“WFP asked for and received the stability that the union knows is necessary for the forest sector when the parties agreed to the longest collective agreement the parties have ever agreed upon in January of 2025. It is so disappointing that LKSM (which is majority-owned by WFP) blatantly threatens that stability by pursuing concessions once again. The union has been very clear that it will not allow the erosion of USW jobs,” stated Jason Cox, USW Local 1- 1937’s 3rd Vice President.

It is the union's hope that the company understands that with the current challenges facing the industry, the parties need to get the operation back working on the same terms as the rest of the coastal forest industry. The USW remains open to talks with the company that focuses on resolving the outstanding issues.

USW Local 1-1937, represents over 5,500 members working for over 250+ employers across the mainland coast and islands of British Columbia from the Yukon/Alaskan borders to the Washington State border.

About the United Steelworkers union
The USW represents 225,000 members in nearly every economic sector across Canada and is the largest private-sector union in North America, with 850,000 members in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.

Each year, thousands of workers choose to join the USW because of the union’s strong track record in creating healthier, safer and more respectful workplaces and negotiating better working conditions and fairer compensation – including good wages, benefits and pensions.

For more information:
Brian Butler, USW Local 1-1937 President, 250-715-5678, BButler@usw1-1937.ca
Jeff Bromley, USW Wood Council Chair, 250-426-9870, jbromley@usw.ca

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