Last Updated: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 CBC News

The Manitoba Labour Board has ordered an immediate end to a prolonged lockout at the Tembec newsprint mill in Pine Falls, Man., CBC News has learned.

The mill has been idle since Sept.1 after the Montreal-based company locked out more than 250 unionized workers and stopped operations. Prior to closing, the company had said it needed “an immediate and significant reduction” in labour costs to stay competitive in the newsprint market.

The United Steelworkers union had applied to the labour board for arbitration in the labour dispute. This morning, the board ordered Tembec to end the lockout, the union said.

Employees on the picket line have just learned of the new development, United Steelworkers union spokesperson Wayne Skrypnyk said.

Not going back to work
However, unionized employees will not be going back to their jobs in the wake of Wednesday’s announcement.

Tembec announced in December that it was putting the mill up for sale and would not be resuming operations even if the lockout was ended.

Skrypnyk said the lockout’s end isn’t considered a victory for the union workers, but will come as some relief to them as they’ll now be issued layoff notices and become eligible for Employment Insurance benefits.

An arbitrator will still be appointed to try and resolve outstanding issues between labour and management, Skrypnyk said.

The mill is about 130 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.