Lightning strikes - maybe once, maybe twice

Last week, AbitibiBowater announced that it would shut down its mill operations in Grand Falls-Windsor in early 2009.

For the people of Bay St. George, this probably comes as no surprise. Events in Central unfolded much the same way as they did on the West Coast in 2005.

AbitibiBowater had stated earlier this year it needed to make major cuts to its Grand Falls-Windsor operations to help it deal with such things as volatile exchange rates, production costs, and challenges in the newsprint industry.

Officials from the Montreal-based company met with stakeholders, including the provincial government. The union representing about 800 of the mill's 1,100 employees was also informed, but the union voted against what the company called its final offer.

A few weeks passed with relative silence. But then the company announced on Dec. 4 it was shutting down its Central Newfoundland operations. Thus leaving a hoard of employees with pink slips just before Christmas (the mill is officially set to close in March).

Perhaps if the union realized that some jobs were better than no jobs, they might have also realized how both they and the entire community is affected when a major employer decides to close shop.

Just think of the many local businesses in Grand Falls-Windsor that either deal directly or indirectly with the paper mill. They will either lose their entire livelihoods or a portion thereof after the plant closure.

This is not to say that some of the employees losing their jobs would have been seen as a positive move. But now that the entire operation will cease to exist - most people will either be scrambling for help-wanted ads, looking for their pogey, or heading up to the mainland in search of work.

And for those who might say that the economy of Bay St. George didn't fare all that bad after the mill closed, remember the community also had another major employer - College of the North Atlantic. Still, many residents had little choice but to make the trek, either alone or with their families, to other parts of Canada looking for work.

Nobody wins when a major employer in a rural part of the province closes its doors permanently. Let's hope the residents of Grand Falls-Windsor can take this knock in stride and find a way to keep their economy - and their community - alive and ultimately successful in the long run.