Relief swept the town of Iroquois Falls when Abitibi-Consolidated secured a deal with its unionized workforce to keep the No. 1 paper machine running. The company announced July 18 that it had reached an agreement with the four union groups under the Communication, Energy and Paperworks Union after workers voted to accept a new deal.
Abitibi had announced in May it was shutting down the machine, which employs 200 people. The company wanted workers to accept concessions including work force reductions over three years and opening up their collective bargaining rights. When union members voted down a tentative deal, Abitibi officials moved to close the machine by mid-September. Forty jobs would have been lost, with other positions gradually eliminated through attrition.
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