PORT ALBERNI — The Catalyst Paper mill in Port Alberni has been through some rough times in the past few years. But as it recovers from its financial woes, a looming labour shortage could be the next large hurdle it has to clear.
Fred Chinn, mill general manager, said the company is coming out the other side of its bankruptcy issues and will be stronger than ever. But first, it has to figure out how to replace the skilled employees now retiring on a regular basis from the Port Alberni operation.
“We have to educate people on the possibilities,” Chinn said. “There are lots of jobs here that people don’t even know about.”
In the past 18 months, the paper mill has hired 60 workers, mostly to replace retiring employees, Chinn said.
He explained that when the layoffs hit in the 1990s, many of the younger workers were the first to go because they did not have enough seniority to keep their jobs. That left the mill with a workforce that consisted mostly of men of similar ages and experience levels.
Now, a lot of those employees have put in more than 30 years with the company, and they are ready to retire.
But Catalyst is having a difficult time attracting young skilled workers.
“We are trying to encourage youth to chase jobs that are available here,” Chinn said. “It allows them to stay in the Valley.”
The lure of high-paying positions in Alberta is stiff competition, especially after coming out of the financial challenges Catalyst has faced in the past couple of years.
But some people see the opportunity that lies within their hometown.
Richard Martell was hired at the paper mill a year ago. He had worked in the paper industry before, but most recently was commuting over the Hump to work in health care. Working on the paper machine at Catalyst means he can stay close to his family.
“For me, it’s about family,” Martell said. “I want to be close to them. It’s a lifestyle choice, and I want to be here.”
He said personal employment opportunities have come up in the past in Alberta, and he can understand the temptation of the money that can be made in camp-style jobs. But he said that for him, it always came back to priorities. His involve being close to his wife and children.
“You have to weigh it out,” he said. “What’s important to you?”
Martell said area residents are starting to see that the mill offers young people an opportunity to stay close to home and still have a career.
“I encourage friends to apply,” he said. “It’s nice to know you won’t be stuck in the same job for 10 years, because the retirements mean there are lots of opportunities to move up.”
In the year he has worked at the mill, Martell has received significant training and acquired a lot of new skills.
“It’s a lot to learn at first,” he said. “It’s pretty overwhelming. I started not knowing anything, so I had tons to learn.”
For a long time, opportunities like that did not exist at the mill.
Richard Van Herwaarden has worked for Catalyst in Port Alberni for 35 1/2 years.
In 40 days, he will retire from a career that has challenged him for more than three decades. He is a maintenance carpenter, and he said the company offered him a great career, one he would recommend to anyone.
“It has been a very nice place to work and has always offered me opportunities,” he said. “It’s a great bunch of genuine people — a little family.”
But he has also seen a lot change in his time at the mill.
“When I first started in the trades in 1980, it was like a small city here,” he said. “There were tradesmen everywhere.”
He said the mill employed approximately 1,500 people back then, a number that has shrunk to around 340 in recent years.
The mill was full of knowledgeable people who were passionate about their jobs, Van Herwaarden said.
“People made their careers here after the war,” he said. “The workload has decreased, but we need people here, and it will always offer a fulfilling career.”
Finding a way to attract workers is one of the most challenging aspects of Chinn’s job. He said it is important that people understand the mill might not offer as many jobs as it once did, but there are still lots of opportunities.
One way to attract young workers is to play host to an open house for educators. In the near future, management hopes to invite staff from the high school to tour the mill and learn what opportunities exist in Port Alberni.
Chinn said more people have to consider the trades as a great option. One way the company can promote that perspective is by offering more opportunities for apprenticing at the mill.
“People are seeing this as an option again,” he said. “We have to teach people that we are a sound business.”
He said people have to put aside the past, when the craft mill was running and the process was much less profitable and environmentally sound than today. They have to realize that now the white plume coming from the stacks is steam, not smoke, and that Catalyst is a good corporate citizen in Port Alberni and has a lot to offer to the next generation, he said.
Chinn said many of 60 new hires were local people, but a number moved to Port Alberni to take the jobs.
That kind of recruitment is good for a community that struggles with shrinking student numbers in schools and continues to watch its youth leave in order to find jobs.
Chinn said some Alberta companies pay three times the wages that Catalyst can provide, but the mill offers a great work environment in a wonderful community.
