Miramichi mill shut down indefinitely

Weyerhaeuser Miramichi has started a temporary shutdown and has laid 100 mill workers off indefinitely, blaming decreased demand for its products.

The facility exports 80 per cent of its oriented strand board to the U.S. for home construction, but with the housing market languishing in the U.S., there's less call for building materials.

Pat King, who has worked at the mill for 10 years, says employees are facing an uncertain future as they have no idea when they will be called back to work.

"Morale is down. It's low," King said Friday. "There's some guys that have left, have found other employment, and will not be back. There's, I would say, a handful that are headed west right now and if the mill opens up in 10 weeks, or the summer, will probably come back, and there are others that are just gone."

King says Weyerhaeuser has promised to update workers by April 20, butno one is sure if there will be good news or bad.

"What that could be, we don't know," King said. "It could be a firm number on what it takes to restart, it could be the announcement of a sale, we really have no idea."