How the Media's Anti-Union Spin is Framing Catalyst Paper's Financial Situation

Hundreds of media outlets are parroting their corporate owners spin of the Catalyst Paper financial situation with their one sided anti-union perspective. The fact is that there are two groups who must agree to endorse the changes being demanded. One is the union locals the other is the bondholders who had to have over 2/3 in agreement for the recapitalization deal to move foward. The company said Monday that it had secured support from 79.47 per cent of those holding its senior secured notes due 2016. However, just 54.96 per cent of its senior notes due 2014 supported the recapitalization.

So all the stories about how workers at the Crofton mill represented by the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers Union of Canada Local 2 turned down a tentative agreement as 58 per cent voted against the deal are only part of, not the whole, story. For sure Catalyst is presently losing money from its combined 4 mills. The disgruntled bondholders voting against the present deal know that in the three months ending Sept. 30, the company lost $205.7 million or 54 cents per share as it booked a $151-million impairment charge on the Snowflake recycled newsprint mill in northeastern Arizona. So most of the losses by Catalyst recently are a common occurrence for goodwill where a company's purchase another company for more than the value of the net assets of the target company.

The bondholders have Bond Insurance that will bail them out IF Catalyst fails to meet its interest payments. The individual workers have no such insurance which means they will lose grocery money if the current recapitalization scheme goes through but the bondholders won't lose, in fact they'll gain control of the board of directors which would allow the vultures to sell off Catalyst's assets in a peicemeal fashion that would probably spell the end of many good paying jobs here in coastal BC.

It's all such crap. It's all caused by the first multinationals, the vampires, flying in and sucking the life blood out of the local BC mills and using that lifeblood to pay bonuses and buy the Snowflake operation. Now with everything stateside in deep doo-doo because of the Wall St. and bank bailouts making Snowflake, along with a lotta other Arizona stuff, worth far less than Catalyst paid they want BC's workers and local communities to bail them out. It's bullshit.

The solution is for Port Alberni, Crofton and Powell River's workers and local investors to buy out their local operaions and run them for the benefit of the local communities - the 99% - and boot the suits - the 1% - out. Bankster capitialism sucks...it sucks out the lifeblood of the needy to further engorge the material assets of the greedy.