Domtar Dryden mill lauded as apprenticeship training leader; Papermaker workforce capable of multi-tasking.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: FORESTRY - Company overview

Tough economic times can sometimes lead to innovative solutions. Domtar's Dryden pulp and paper operations have come up with an award-winning apprenticeship program to produce a high-skilled unionized workforce capable of multi-tasking at many jobs.

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In May, the mill was provincially recognized as a business leader in supporting apprenticeship training by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.

Domtar was one of four other companies honoured at the May 27 Employer Recognition Awards gala in Toronto.

The high costs of energy, power and the strong Canadian dollar have forced many forestry operators to find ways to cut costs and achieve efficiencies in all areas of production. By 2003, it became evident to then-mill manager Norm Bush that the perfect storm battering the Canadian forest industry required some creative thinking to reduce costs if the Dryden uncoated free sheet papermaking mill (then owned by Weyerhaeuser) was to survive.

One way was to have a more flexible and competitive workforce with a better method of training.

In partnership with the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP) Local 105, Confederation College and the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, they came up with an apprenticeship training program to enable Domtar trades people to gain additional skills and qualifications.

"Instead of having three trades people attend to one job, in the future you only have one." says Bonny Skene, a spokeswoman at the Dryden operation.

Trades involved in the program are millwright, welder, machinist, steamfitter, and electrician and instrumentation.

The first class of 12 began in September 2004. By May of this year about 90 tradespeople have gone through the program. Domtar's goal is to eventually have most of the mill's workforce achieve certification in three trades by 2012.

In working with the Ministry, they put together a chart mapping the core skills required for each trade, cross-conferenced and gave credits to those skills already acquired by tradespeople to avoid any duplication in instruction.

Skene believes it's the first time in Ontario such a structured program exists to recognize and give credit for those core skills.

Picking up additional certification makes Dryden workers a pretty hot commodity in the national labour market. It also makes them potentially good recruits for other companies to poach.

"That was definitely a concern going in, that they were going to be...