WEYCO DRUG TESTING PLAN UPSETS UNION

A drug testing program being introduced by Weyerhaeuser Co. in Canada is
arbitrary and infringes on the rights of workers, says the Communication,
Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.

More than 25 CEP delegates from across Canada met in Kamloops Sunday and
Monday to discuss WeyCo policies.

"It's a hard-headed policy that's caused nothing but grief," said CEP
national president Brian Payne.

Payne said employees have been tested after industrial accidents in Alberta
and Ontario. But there is no test to determine impairment by marijuana, for
example.

Corporate spokeswoman Sarah Goodman said drug testing will be done before
employment for safety sensitive jobs, following accidents and where there
is erratic behaviour suggesting drug problems.

"There's no timeline when it will be rolled out in Kamloops. The policy is
all about safety."

Goodman said the policy is not being introduced to fire people, but to
direct them to help before they hurt themselves or someone else.

Drug testing is just one policy that came under fire from the union, which
represents 3,500 industry workers across Canada. More important, said
Payne, is opposition to mill closures across North America.

The union says Weyerhaeuser is not seriously entertaining offers for its
Sturgeon Falls, Ont., pulp mill that it closed last year.

The union wants potential buyers to be able to evaluate the mill in the
small town.

Closure of operations in Sturgeon Falls and Vavenby is the first phase of a
new corporate culture of downsizing, Payne said. The union fears the second
will come in across-the-board workforce cuts.

"We are facing a company that has spent $8 billion purchasing Willamette
(Industries in the U.S.) and now wants to make workers sacrifice to pay for
that expansionism."

Goodman denied that charge, saying each closure is in response to specific
market conditions or economics of that operation. She acknowledged the
forest products sector is experiencing difficult economic times and the
company is trying to reduce costs.