Unifor members at three Domtar mills have ratified a four-year pattern agreement that will guide bargaining for approximately 14,000 union members across Eastern Canada’s forestry sector.
Announced September 14, the ratification follows three rounds of negotiations with Domtar, the employer selected for this round of pattern bargaining. After reaching an impasse, the parties agreed to submit a conciliator’s settlement recommendation to members at the participating mills.
The agreement runs from May 1, 2026, to April 30, 2030. It provides annual wage increases of 2.5%, plus an annual attendance bonus of up to 1%. It also includes improvements to vacation and leave provisions, group insurance, pensions and the probationary period.
A benchmark for further bargaining
The agreement establishes a benchmark for subsequent negotiations in pulp and paper, sawmills and other forestry operations. Its terms will guide bargaining at other workplaces rather than automatically take effect for all 14,000 members covered by the broader process.
According to Unifor, failure to reach an agreement would have resulted in an immediate labour dispute.
The union said negotiations took place against a backdrop of U.S. trade tensions, rising tariffs on Canadian forestry products, production slowdowns, mill shutdowns and layoffs.
Unifor Quebec director Daniel Cloutier said members had chosen to preserve existing gains while securing improvements amid uncertainty across the industry. National president Lana Payne called for collective action to protect forestry jobs and keep mills operating.
Sawmill negotiations next
Martin Dugas, forestry sector coordinator for Unifor Quebec, said the agreement would serve as a starting point for further negotiations to improve working conditions across the sector.
Unifor will now continue bargaining in the sawmill sector before moving to other parts of the forestry industry.
Unifor is Canada’s largest private-sector union, representing more than 320,000 workers across the economy. It is also the country’s largest forestry union, with approximately 24,000 members across all 10 provinces working in forestry, logging, firefighting, wood products, bioenergy, and pulp and paper manufacturing.
