Mineworkers close to getting $13M payout

A B.C. Supreme Court Justice has cleared the way for issuing a $13-million payout to workers who lost their jobs when a Tumbler Ridge coal mine was shut down.

In a decision issued July 9, Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick approved an amended arrangement between the New Walter Canada Group and its creditors. The decision ends a series of extensions Fitzpatrick had granted for reaching the arrangement.

United Steelworkers Local 1-2017 business agent Dan Will said he is pleased with the outcome which brings close to an end a struggle that began more than four years ago.

“I’m told it’s as close to guaranteed without using the word guaranteed,” he said. “I guess something could go wrong but they certainly don’t expect any- thing to go wrong, they expect to get their money.”

However, it will be some time yet before the cheques arrive as how much in Employment Insurance will be taken off the payouts is still to be determined and that could take six to nine months, according to Will.

In April 2014, some 280 workers at the Wolverine Mine were put on layoff without receiving 60 days notice.

The United Steelworkers Local 1-2017 subsequently took the mine’s owner, then known as Walter Energy Canada, to the Labour Relations Board and in October 2017 it secured adjustment pay adding up to $13 million for improper closure.

Workers had expected to get their cheques by the end of 2017 or early January. But the deadline for filing a plan was then extended to Feb. 28, then April 16 and then June 1.

Creditors voted in favour of the plan on June 27.