Forestry crisis to blame for Summerland tree nursery closure and 55 layoffs, says BCGEU

More than 50 people in Summerland will soon lose their jobs because of today's closure announcement affecting a tree nursery that grows seedlings for reforestation.

And the union that represents a dozen of those workers says provincial government inaction in solving the crisis in the forest industry is to blame for the closure which will have devastating impacts for Summerland.

"Workers were shocked and very emotional when they received the closure news today," says Darryl Walker, president of the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union, which had just reached a collective agreement with the company operating the nursery, Pacific Regeneration Technologies.

"Obviously the downturn in the forest industry is part of the reason for the closure. But the real blame rests with the provincial government which has done nothing to solve the forest industry crisis," Walker says. "They've sat on their hands and watched our raw logs and forest industry jobs shipped to China.

"Most of our members are women who are regular seasonal employees. They depended on this work to earn a living," he says. "Now they face real uncertainty and insecurity in a town where there aren't a lot of jobs left."

Walker credits the company for the way it made the announcement and involving the union from the outset. He said both sides will meet next week to try and figure out how to help the laid off workers.

The nursery will close by mid December.

The company pledged that it has no plans to close any of its other B.C. nurseries in Campbell River, Red Rock (Prince George), Vernon, Armstrong and Harrop (Nelson).