Weyerhaeuser tells Evergreen no thanks!

Well that was a surprise. Weyerhaeuser decided to take an offer from another investor to buy their Pulp Mill in Cosmopolis, Washington. The Eureka Reporter - Article Weyerhaeuser instead accepted an offer from another group who are naming the place Cocidus High Purity Cellulose. The Daily World The same people bought a sulfide pulp mill in Port Alice in British Columbia after Lapointe Partners went bankrupt after buying the plant for $1 and sucking profits off into thin air. Oh yes, the same Lapointe people who bought Shasta Paper for $1 and went bankrupt, then Samoa Pacific/Bankrupt and Stockton Pacific/Bankrupt so on & so on.

Almost three hundred workers are now completely confused about their old workplace. The Daily World The Public Utilities Department for Grays Harbor was "shocked" by the news. The Daily World It will be interesting to see what happens.

Evergreen CEO David Tsang held special meetings last week with workers at Samoa and was pretty confident the deal was close at hand. The new mill was to also be named Evergreen, and he was going to personally lead the transition, much as he had successfully done here at Samoa. Guess that is not in the works.

The former union workers or at least the leaders at Cosmopolis have publicly stated that they are worried about the new owners.The Daily World They should be. History shows these people can get nasty in negotiations. They pretty much threatened to back out of the deal to buy the Port Alice Mill if the workers did not accept an sub par offer. The Marxist-Leninist Daily

It must really be unnerving for the long term workers who are now displaced at Cosmopolis. You put years of your life in a place, and it becomes a part of you. I always joke with people at work that I have to stay at Evergreen because after nearly 30 years, I can not do a "real" job. When I put myself in the shoes of the people at the old "Cosi" plant, I wonder if maybe I am hitting closer to the truth than I jest.

Update: David Tsang addresses Weyerhaeuser decision.The Daily World