Boise Cascade issued a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice to employees at the company/s Elgin, Ore., plywood facility. The notice was issued to ensure all employees are aware it is possible the mill will have to reduce production levels beginning on or about January 1, 2021, according to a news release.
Boise Cascade’s Elgin facility currently produces approximately 10% of the company’s dry veneer production, the majority of which is sold as plywood and represents approximately 16% of the company’s plywood sales.
The WARN Act is a labor law that requires employers with 100 or more employees to provide a 60 calendar-day advance notice of plant closings and mass layoffs of employees. The advance notice is intended to give workers and their families transition time to adjust to the prospective loss of employment, to seek and obtain other employment, and to enter skill training or retraining programs, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The company said while demand and pricing for plywood has been favorable during the calendar year and the Elgin plant has been profitable in the second and third quarters, Boise Cascade’s ability to use the Elgin facility’s waste and storm water has been modified by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ). Boise Cascade siad new permit constraints create uncertainty around the future operations in Elgin. The company has reduced its purchases of logs for the Elgin facility considering the uncertainty created by the change in environmental constraints and possible curtailment.
Boise Cascade said it does not expect to have enough logs available to operate throughout the entire winter even if concerns with ODEQ are “favorably resolved” before the end of the year. The company said it will continue to evaluate plywood market conditions, log supply availability, operating costs, environmental permits, and other factors influencing the long-term viability of the Elgin plywood operation.
Boise, Idaho-based Boise Cascade products engineered wood products and plywood in North America and is a wholesale distributor of building products.
