Forest Management Certification Assessment Report for - Rainforest ...

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FSC PrincipleP4: CommunityRelations &Workers’ RightsComments from InterestedParties• Tembec’s largest logging contractor,Prairie Holdings Inc. pays lowerwages and does not provide benefitsbecause most of his workers arefamily members and are not paidconsistent with the EmploymentStandards Act. This contractor is thusable to log for lower rates and nowall contractors are expected to workat these rates which isn’t fair.• Intimidation tactics are being usedduring rate and working areanegotiations with loggingcontractors.Assessment Team Response• The assessment team found that mostof the workers for Prairie Holdingswho are assigned to Tembec contractsare not family members, and whilePrairie Holdings wages and benefits areslightly lower than the industryaverage, this is not a concern for theemployees who were interviewed. Wealso found that wages are paidconsistent with the requirements of theEmployment Standards Act and therehad not been any employmentstandards grievances. Tembec’slogging rates are based on a matrixwhich reflects the 2003 bid proposalprocess, where five contracts wereawarded to four logging contractors.These rates are then adjusted based oncutblock conditions and negotiationswith contractors. There are noindicators in the BC Standard thatpermit the assessment team to assessthe ‘fairness’ of these negotiations.• The BC standard addresses protectionof forest workers from discriminationor harassment. The team did not findany evidence of intimidation of forestworkers during the assessment, butacknowledges that very toughnegotiations occur between contractorsand Tembec about the rates paid to thelogging contractors and about the areaswhere they operate. The definition offorest workers extends to theemployees of the licensee andemployees of the contractors - not thelogging contractors (who are limitedcompanies) themselves. Business tobusiness negotiations with the loggingcontractors do not involve workers andare outside the scope of the FSCstandard. Thus, the team did notaddress this concern of the loggingcontractors. A separate concern relatedto pressure on logging contractors andtheir workers to accept potentiallyunsafe work on steep slopes isaddressed separately below in this tableand CAR 9/06 is imposed to addressthis concern.Page 20 of 89
FSC PrincipleP4: CommunityRelations &Workers’ RightsComments from InterestedParties• Tembec’s largest logging contractor,Prairie Holdings Inc. does not hirelocal workers, hires under-agedworkers, has a high accidentfrequency and has causedenvironmental damage through spillsand poor practices.• It was alleged that Prairie HoldingsInc., is an inexperienced loggingcontractor with questionableemployment, safety andenvironmental practices and hasreplaced more experienced loggingcontractors, which is not fair.Assessment Team Response• Most of Prairie Holdings’ workers onTembec contracts live in the Cranbrookarea. Interviews with workers forPrairie Holdings who are not affiliatedwith the owners verify no underageworkers are employed on Tembeccontracts. Review of safety andEnvironmental Management Systemrecords and interviews withrepresentatives of government safetyand environmental conformanceagencies did not verify the safety orenvironmental concerns. No nonconformancewas found.• The process for reducing the number oflong-term contracting companiesworking for Tembec in the two licenceareas is governed by provinciallegislation and includes requirementsthat the process be fair and be approvedby affected contractors. Tembec wentthrough this process. The contractorsapproved the company’s final proposalin which two long-term contractorcompanies lost their contracts andPrairie Holdings maintained theircontract. The assessment teamtherefore, did not evaluate the fairnessof the bid proposal process as thecontractors would not have accepted itif they did not feel it was fair andacceptable. The contractors also didnot ask the team to evaluate it. Forestworkers were not fully informed aboutthis process and, as directly affectedpersons, they should have beeninformed. However as this process isnow completed, no CAR is imposed. ANote for future annual audits (Note4.4.2) is recorded to track compliancewith Indicator 4.4.2 in future. Despitemany rumours and assertions, the teamcould find no reliable evidence of anyquestionable employment, safety orenvironmental practices involvingPrairie Holdings during the term of theassessment (previous 2 years) andunder Prairie Holdings’ currentmanagement.Page 21 of 89
Page 1 and 2: Certified by:SmartWood Headquarters
Page 3 and 4: MWLAP Ministry of Water, Land and A
Page 5 and 6: 1. Scope of the Certificate1.1. Sco
Page 7 and 8: 2. ASSESSMENT PROCESS2.1 Certificat
Page 9 and 10: December 1-Jan 31,2006June 9, 2006
Page 11 and 12: The First Nations assessor (TL) wro
Page 13 and 14: During the assessment period, the a
Page 15 and 16: 3. ASSESSMENT FINDINGS AND OBSERVAT
Page 17 and 18: FSC PrincipleP3 - IndigenousPeoples
Page 19: FSC PrincipleP4: CommunityRelations
Page 23 and 24: FSC PrincipleComments from Interest
Page 25 and 26: FSC PrincipleP5: Benefits fromthe F
Page 27 and 28: FSC PrincipleP6: EnvironmentalImpac
Page 29 and 30: FSC PrincipleP6: EnvironmentalImpac
Page 31 and 32: FSC PrincipleP7: ManagementPlanP7:
Page 33 and 34: P10 - Plantations • Clearcut harv
Page 35 and 36: P5: Benefits fromthe Forestapproach
Page 37 and 38: P7: ManagementPlanP8: Monitoring& A
Page 39 and 40: Tembec shall complete a summary of
Page 41 and 42: CAR #: 6/06 Reference Standard #: 3
Page 43 and 44: CAR #: 11/06 Reference Standard #:
Page 45 and 46: CAR #: 17/06 Reference Standard #:
Page 47 and 48: c) Clearly describes how monitoring
Page 49 and 50: In cases where the non-conformance
Page 51 and 52: Note for Future Annual Audits (Note
Page 53 and 54: planning processes to resolve confl
Page 55 and 56: Sparwood and Creston - and a number
Page 57: APPENDIX I: FSC Reporting Form: Det
Page 60 and 61: Government determines AAC, followin
Page 62 and 63: to local communities’ traditional
Page 64 and 65: 3 A19040 Fairy TBD3 A19040 Fernie A
Page 66 and 67: system category.Shelterwood systems
Page 68 and 69: Environmental protection measures,
Page 70 and 71:
Forest Licence A20212: Harvesting m
Page 72 and 73:
1. AUDIT PROCESS1.1 Auditors and qu
Page 74 and 75:
Pre-condition #:1/06Non-conformance
Page 76 and 77:
annual audit.Status: Met and Closed
Page 78 and 79:
Status: Met and Closed.Follow-up Ac
Page 80 and 81:
Status: Met and Closed.Follow-up Ac
Page 82 and 83:
CAR #: 6/06 Reference Standard #: 3
Page 84 and 85:
Timeline for Conformance: By the en
Page 86 and 87:
minimum 7 m machine-free zone along
Page 88 and 89:
CAR #: 21/06 Reference Standard #:
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