About 150 workers are back at work at Domtar's Espanola pulp mill following a brief shutdown on Feb. 16.
Unifor Local 74 president Joanne Lamothe confirmed the workers were back on the job.
The mill had begun laying off workers at 8:30 p.m. on the evening of Feb. 14 in response to a shortage of trained staff.
“Domtar’s Espanola mill recently experienced some absences in key positions which has resulted in the need to currently cease the pulp mill operations," said Domtar spokesperson Jan Martin in a statement to media.
"The paper section of the mill is operating normally at this time."
Also in a news release, Unifor said the shutdown was necessary because a shortage of trained and qualified operators made it impossible to perform many operations safely.
“This temporary shutdown was a manpower issue, which has been resolved,” Lamothe said.
Earlier, the union had said the issue was one of hiring and training. Neither side explained how the issue had been resolved so quickly.
