Tentative deal reached at mill here

A tentative agreement between Abitibi-Consolidated and the two Communications, Energy and Papermakers locals here was reached in the wee hours of this morning.
Mill manager Jim Gartshore said the company wrapped up negotiations on local issues and contract language with both CEP Local 92 and 306 around 3 a.m.
But that doesn’t mean the striking mill workers will be back on the job. The two sides still need to hash out a deal on the key monetary issues, which will be done at the main table Oct. 6 in Montreal.
“We’re all set to go to Montreal,” Gartshore noted this morning.
Meanwhile, the union locals won’t be voting on the tentative deal reached here until after the other issues are dealt with at the main table.
“We’re not doing that until we get the whole deal done,” Mike Drazenovich, president of CEP Local 92, stressed this morning.
He also said he wasn’t surprised how fast the two sides came to an agreement here but added he wasn’t sure things would move so quickly in Montreal.
“We’ll see. Hopefully everything will go good,” he said.
Local 306 president Gord Bell could not be reached for comment.
A provincial conciliator arrived yesterday to attend negotiations between Abitibi and Local 306 after the union had requested one be brought in.
“Either side can ask for a mediator,” Gartshore had noted yesterday, but refused to say why the union had requested one be present.
“There was no breakdown [in negotiations],” added Susan Rogers, Abitibi’s vice-president of corporate communications in Montreal, adding the CEP local and company continued to meet here Monday without a conciliator for a “primer” session.
Early last week, the two sides began their first negotiations since the strike began June 15. That came after the company and union members had agreed to the bargaining process brought forward by one federal and three provincial conciliators (representing Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland).
That process sees local issues and contract language being negotiated on a mill-by-mill basis while key monetary issues will be done at the main table next month in Montreal.
Abitibi reported negotiations were moving along steadily at most of its mills. The company has asked conciliatory officers to assist the parties with talks at its Grand Falls, Nfld. and Fort William mills.
“Many of the mills have been bringing in conciliators. It’s just to move things along,” Rogers said.