Crown Pacific Drops Plans For Mill Layoffs

Crown Pacific Ltd. has dropped plans to lay off more than half the workers at its Redmond plywood and veneer mill because plywood markets are improving.

“We think we can make this thing work,” company spokesman Fletcher Chamberlin said Tuesday.

Chamberlin denied that the Portland-based company’s change of heart had anything to do with a strike at the Redmond mill, which employs about 200 workers.

When the union missed a deadline to accept a final offer, Crown Pacific gave a 60-day notice that it intended to close the plywood operation, employing 125 workers, but keep the veneer mill.