Asset auction funds full windup of Northern Pulp’s defined benefit plan
A $235m asset sale at the shuttered Northern Pulp mill in Nova Scotia will fully restore and wind up the defined benefit pension plan for former Unifor members, overturning the kind of shortfall many workers face in insolvencies.
The sale of the company’s woodland assets will cover the $37m owed to Unifor Local 440 members’ defined benefit pension plan.
Unifor National President Lana Payne called the outcome “a small but important victory for all workers as the bankruptcy process typically places workers and their pensions at the bottom of the list of creditors or off the list entirely.”
She said “current Northern Pulp pensioners can rest easier knowing their retirement is secure, and those who will retire in the future can now count on the pension they earned being there for them.”
Unifor represented 220 members at Northern Pulp before the mill closed in 2020 and continued to advocate for them during the closure, creditor protection and sale processes.
The union says it provided consistent support to Local 440 members through years of uncertainty and contested every move by the company and government that did not favour workers after the mill shut down.
Unifor Atlantic Regional Director Jennifer Murray said the Northern Pulp case underlines how precarious pensions can become when employers fail.
She said it felt like “a long-fought victory to protect workers' pensions -- deferred wages that were earned and saved,” adding that outcomes for workers are usually awful when companies file for bankruptcy or close.
She said she was happy they achieved this outcome for Northern Pulp members and their families.
The union also pushed for broader policy change while fighting for Northern Pulp members.
Unifor advocated for legislative reforms to protect workers’ pensions, supporting a private members’ bill that gives pension plan members super-priority during plan windups and bankruptcy proceedings.
The bill received royal assent in 2023 and is scheduled to take effect in 2027.
Murray positioned the Northern Pulp result as evidence of the role unions can play when employers shed obligations.
She said “being a member of a union and supporting unions is more important than ever as we continue to see new ways corporations will dodge their responsibilities and ignore their promises to workers.”
She added that workers in strong unions like Unifor stand together to fight unfair treatment and that this long fight shows the union will still be there, fighting for members, even after others have walked away.
