The President of the Steelworkers Union Local 1-417 is hoping to see changes in legislation to prevent the sale of timber cutting rights in the aftermath of a mill closure.

Marty Gibbons is concerned by Canfor’s $60 million deal to sell their cutting rights in the Adams Lake area to Interfor, and he joins Clearwater mayor Merlin Blackwell, TNRD Area Director Carol Schaffer, and the Simpcw First Nation in sharing those concerns.

Gibbons doesn’t want to pit one group of mill workers against another, and his issues are around corporations using public resources like timber as an asset to shore up their stock prices.

“The really disturbing thing, even where these logs are going is the workers there, this can happen to them just as quickly as it happened to us,” Gibbons said. “And all workers should be concerned because the rules right now, give these corporations control over our forests.”

He says natural resources need to create jobs in the area it comes from.

“Rural communities just seem to be losing jobs every year and people are moving away. It’s not possible to raise families in a lot of these rural communities anymore, and the communities suffer,” he added. “The government needs to put some regulations-legislation in place that puts these natural resources back to the places they belong.”

Most of Marty Gibbons’ time right now is being spent trying to help the 178 workers in Vavenby who will out of a job next month when the Canfor sawmill closes, but he notes the national body of the United Steelworkers will be lobbying for the changes.

Local 1-417 reps have a meeting with the Deputy Forests Minister today, but Gibbons is pushing for an audience with Forests Minister Doug Donaldson and Premier John Horgan to discuss the future of the soon to be laid off workers in Vavenby.