The president of the United Steelworkers Local 1-417 union says there is a silver lining after the layoffs at the sawmill in Merritt.

Marty Gibbons says the move, while devastating to the community, could lead to stability for the remaining employees at the mill. He says the Aspen Planers mill in Merritt has been running at 50 per cent for the last three to four months.

“So our members out there have basically been yo-yoed back and forth between employment and not working for quite a while now,” he said. “From what we are told, a lot of workers have already moved on so this actually, hopefully, will mean more consistent employment for a group of workers rather than fifty per cent.”

Gibbons echoed concerns raised by the company, saying several mills in the area have issues with log supplies.

“Two mills that we do represent, one in Vavenby, a Canfor operation and a West Fraser operation in Chasm. Canfor Vavenby has actually had seven weeks of shutdown this year. West Fraser Chasm has had six weeks down this year. They are down right now,” Gibbons added.

“Workers are hurting, communities are hurting and yeah, we want to know where the government is.”

Fifty employees were given layoff notices in Merritt yesterday,. Meanwhile, Aspen Planers says its operations in Lillooet and Savona are not affected at this time.