While six Vancouver Island mayors recently signed a letter urging Western Forest Products and the United Steelworkers to return to the bargaining table, Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions declined to add her name to the letter.
She said while she and her council all want the strike to end, they did not agree with the wording of the letter, and joined with Campbell River in not signing
“We just felt that it is the right of the union and their negotiators to determine what tactics and strategies they use when they are negotiating. We would like to see the strike come to a conclusion as soon as possible but we wanted to be really respectful of the rights of the union members in our community,” she said.
Minions said if the letter were written differently, she might have joined mayors from Port McNeil, Port Hardy, Powell River, and other forest-dependant communities in signing it.
