heavy equipment mechanic

laborer

ouvrier

mécanicien d'équipement lourd

mécanicien monteur

Western Forest Products

After 30+ years working for this company I was put on written notice of termination WITHOUT CAUSE.
This basically means that there isn't a severance package, but rather an offer to continue working for a specified period. For me the offer was a year and a half and then adios, no payout, no retirement party, no nothing. In essence, you are fired, but after we get more out of you.
The feeling of having to continue to work for a company that kicked you to the curb is both humiliating and hurtful. I'm struggling to  gather any enthusiasm and job satisfaction as I once had. I've always loved going to work.
I know I have the option to quit, but not so easy given my age and that my roots are well planted here.
When I reached my 25 year milestone It wasn't acknowledged, not even a thankyou. The past practice for the predecessor company, MacMillan Bloedel was a trip to Vancouver to be presented with a gold watch (and this was for houly personnel)

WFP offers its salary personnel an incentive bonus. 
This is basically a goal setting exercise where rewards can be achieved if the company has a profitable year and you meet or exceed your goals. My (new) manager didn't approach me, not even once to discuss my goals for 2017. My supervisor was the one to tell me when the goals needed to be submitted.
I was astonished when I didn't receive a bonus since I had completed all my goals. I wasn't given a letter, reason or anything as to why I wouldn't be receiving this bonus. Every year previously (with different managers) I was given a bonus if there was one.

To summarize, I have been with this company a long time through many changes. I bled the company colours and believed what they told me, that employees are their best asset. 
I believed that I would come to retire with this company and to enjoy a comfortable, if not a rich retirement at the age of 65.
My life has been shattered. I was told that the company is going in a new direction...a " Higher Standard". I now really question what this means.
I  no longer recognize what this organization has become (by which, long time personnel are treated and disposed of)

I think it might still be a good employer for hourly workers with union protection, but I would strongly think twice about accepting a salary position with this company.  The old saying "i wish I knew then what I know know" resonates with me.

One thing for prospective employees to consider is that the forest industry is very cyclical with many ups and downs (layoffs) so until you have the seniority, things can be very unstable.

In summary, I've been completely honest in my review. I probably sound like I'm venting, but I know others who are in the same position who feel the same way.

My feelings of WFP can be summed up in one word - BETRAYAL

I have been the spouse to a Western Forrest Products worker for quite some time and there are just a few things I would like to share from the spouse’s point of view. They finally just pulled the last straw where I can no longer just bite my tongue. This company has made it very clear that their employees mean absolutely nothing to them. In this day in age unless you have a $30 an hour paying job (which WFP is not) you Need both parents working just to get by. Unfortunately, WFP has made that impossible if you have a family for the spouse to be able to work as well. We have a son that needs to be looked after for us to work and that’s doable, but sadly it is still impossible to do so as WFP is shift work. They don’t find out that they are working until a couple of days in advance, and even when they do it is a completely different shift EVERY WEEK. How am I as a mother supposed to have a job when I need a different sitter ever morning throughout the week or next week every evening. Not only that but they get put on graveyards at random here and there? Don’t get me wrong I’m not apposed to graveyards some people even prefer them, but they should not be giving them out one week then mornings then graveyards then evenings. Graveyards effect a lot more than just being able to spend time with your family but there is strong evidence that shift work is related to a number of serious health conditions, like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity, shift work is also linked to stomach problems and ulcers, depression, and an increased risk of accidents or injury. Last, they like to state that they are for the company but how is that so when they lay people off whenever it suits their pockets. Recently alone they were all laid off right before Christmas, they made what was supposed to be a happy time for families awful and stressful. They also just gave all the guys bonuses because they had to it was in their contract, but then laid them all off right after for a week. That’s sure a good way to get out of giving a bonus.

Toxic environment. Bullying is not addressed, some divisions seem to only want themselves to succeed at the expense of other divisions. 
Zero transparency, information hoarding. 

There are a few amazing managers and supervisors, they are few and far between and are not given the resources they need to be successful. If they had the tools they needed they could create real and valuable change. This is the hardest part of the job, seeing great employees being stifled and not able to really make a difference. 

Too many unqualified people being promoted solely to stop them from leaving or their friends are promoting them. This creates poor leadership and uninformed supervisors. 

Good hard workers are used up by the company and discarded. Promotions based upon how long people have worked for the company despite their obvious inability to manage/supervisor or even have the rudimentary understanding of the jobs that are done by the people they supervise. Or they over simplify what they think the person does which is extremely insulting. Micro managers, inability to listen to the employees about their concerns and workload and get told “whatever it has to be done”

Only production matters. Not employees work life balance. Not even the very lives of the employees as evidenced by prior incidents. 

Massive talent drain at WFP. They strive to keep some people, who don’t have other options for the same paying job, they can’t keep the good employees because those ones are employable and able to get new jobs for the same or higher salary. 

I was recently approached to go back to WFP, too toxic, too many ineffective people still there. Nothing would have changed, I declined.

During my 13+ year tenure in management WFP endured amalgamation of legacy companies, multiple restructuring initiatives and the economic downturn of 2008 which nearly bankrupt the organization.  Against these odds WFP managed to turn the tide and course correct towards profitability year over year in large part due to the dedication and commitment of its employees hourly and salaried alike.  Sadly this positive trend was not good enough for the executive resulting in the recruitment of new senior leadership to "ensure the right people were on the bus" and shift the culture towards the interior commodity widget model.  In so doing, a number of  individuals with little to no coastal experience were hired and promoted far beyond their station and expertise causing a level of workplace toxicity I've yet to come across in my 22 plus years of forestry experience.  Those of us that could leave did; others that could not find meaningful employment elsewhere continue to keep their heads down hoping to avoid being "kicked off the bus" for little other reason than being associated as a legacy employee.  The result is an organization largely consisting of apathetic front line leadership and a disenfranchised workforce who feel largely ignored.  If treating employees with contempt is "Defining a Higher Standard" then WFP achieved its "Wildly Important / BIG" goal in spades.  Such wasted potential.  I highly recommend those looking to join this organization to consider all of their options and do their homework prior to accepting employment with WFP.

Once upon a time this was a very good company to work for.  I have been a salary management position for 30+ years and have seen many changes and many faces come and go, receiving nothing but positive goal setting and always exceeding these goals, receiving incentive bonuses and raises every year which the company was in a positive position to do so. I have watched in the last 18 months a really well run, knowledgeable department of 15 employees destroyed. Of those 15 happy loyal team employees, 8 of them have been either forced out or packaged out. The new upper management team has been filled with college degree ego personnel, who have never worked a physical day in their life in the industry, having no life skills, no communication skills, thinking they know it all, sending out emails on Saturday and Sunday nights after 9pm, answering emails that have been dealt with days before etc.

All they do is say yes to every dumb thing that comes out of this President and his merry VPs.  Cutting bonus's and raises to hard working knowledgeable employees after the company is showing records profits.  These employees really do have a passion for their jobs.  This is a good way to lose what good employees haven't already left, or are trying to leave.  In closing, it is time for this employee to move on before he really tells a certain new manager what he really thinks.  There was a time my fellow workers had smiles on their faces and would laugh at work instead of just shaking their heads in disgust or disbelief.

A typical day involves a handful of people, all telling you how to do your job a different way. Many of whom have no idea what the job entails...

Hard work doesn't matter and people that would be fired from any other job, thrive here thanks to the Union. You just feel stupid for working hard, because you wind up doing the work of the lazy people who take full advantage of how hard it is to get fired.

The corporate management seems completely disconnected from the managerial staff at the mills. Even though the staff at the mill seems like it wants to improve things, the big wigs do not allow them any power. For a company that has a motto " nothing at work is worth getting hurt for" it seems a lot more accurate to say "profit is worth our laborer's getting hurt".

Year after year, the mill has become more run down and more dangerous. With temporary Band-Aids being put on fixes rather than spending money to do things right. The one time they did decide to spend a big chunk of money to replace a crane, they replaced it with a crane which has a load capacity to small to lift the required loads. Over a  year later, this mistake still has not been addressed.

The most enjoyable part of the job is the constant layoffs, as I don't have to go to work. 

There are some very hard working and intelligent people that work at Western. This is a great time to be in the Forest Industry, with the company hitting record profits month after month so I guess there is job security. These are the only positives about Western.

Now the negatives:
- Horrible management that pressure you to work long unpaid hours
- Despite record profits, employee salaries are well below industry standards
- Prepare to be judged if you decide to leave the office to grab lunch, or to leave after working your 8 hours. It is expected to work at least 10 hours/day, with no remuneration for the overtime.
- The pay is below average, especially when you consider the amount of hours you put in. You can make more money in other industries by working way less hours.
- Very unorganized processes. No one in the company truly understands the accounting processes.
- Administration staff are working weekends without pay to satisfy unrealistic expectations set by people in the ivory tower
- Incredibly high turnover
- Company is cutting benefits, particularly vacation

After ~20 years in the forest industry, with the last 7+ at WFP, I have learned a lot and felt I put my heart and soul into my job. However this work ethic apparently does not ensure job security. I was fired "without cause" from WFP. No warning, explanation or even a chance to defend myself against whatever their reasoning was.

It had become an increasingly toxic work environment since amalgamating divisions in 2015 and Corporate trying to 'Define a Higher Standard'. A lot of people did the work of two, while a few others simply thought and acted as though they were in a living room, or coffee shop. Apparently talking to supervisors about lack of support and distractions in the office, just gets one fired.

I worked for and with some amazing supervisors and other staff, but upper management is another story. Hard working employees are easily expendable in their world, with no communication whatsoever.

I would never recommend this company to anyone looking for work. And even more so in light of the strike issues and what the upper echelon at WFP earn in a year.

If it was not for the money, I really doubt anyone would work for this company.

They do not care about their employees at all. I will not be returning even though I got an offer, because I do not want to babysit a bunch of union workers who complain all day long and dont know how good they have it ($30 an hour for being a janitor). 

The management is no better, as half of them barely even graduate highschool, so they have no critical thinking skills or compassion for others.

The worst thing of all, is they think they can get away with offering me under 60k a year. I'm about to receive a degree in Wood Products Processing, with multiple summers of mill experience, and they pull this stunt. Good luck attracting any real young talent who are not complete pushovers. 

Also I agree with the other person, their corporate recruitment is by far the worst I have ever had to deal with in or out of the forestry industry. What does L.D. do all day? Because it sure doesn't involve recruiting people.

Working at WFP has been a really positive experience so far. The onboarding process was smooth and well organized, and I’ve felt supported from the very beginning. A lot of people reached out to welcome me, check in, and offer help as I got settled into my role, which made a big difference.

One thing that stands out is how many resources are available to help you grow professionally. Whether it's training, learning tools, or just support from your team, it's clear that if you're motivated, there are real opportunities to grow your career here. It feels like there's no limit to what you can achieve if you put the effort in.

The overall environment is collaborative and encouraging. People are open to sharing ideas and genuinely want to see each other succeed. I’ve found it to be a place where hard work is noticed, and where you’re given the space to learn and contribute from day one.

So far, I’m really happy to be here and excited to see where this journey leads. 

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