The background for AbitibiBowater is extremely complicated. It was a cavalier move by two independent companies, Abitibi and Bowater, to run themselves into massive, incredible debts.
When the economic crisis of September-October of 2008 struck, the company had a $1.4 billion unfunded liability for its Canadian pension plans. They couldn't meet their fiduciary responsibilities along with their other debts and were forced into CCAA. Our members, in an effort to try to keep the company from being dismantled, accepted wage and benefit rollbacks of more than 17% so that the pensioners wouldn't be cut and the company could exit CCAA.
When the federal government gave the $130 million gift to AbitibiBowater, the workers who had lost their severance and taken a wage cut received none of that money. As you say, they don't get the complication of a set of laws, meaning bankruptcy protection, CCAA, and NAFTA; all they see is that they personally bear the brunt of this manoeuvre by Bay Street and Wall Street. They are out of pocket and they don't understand it. You're absolutely correct.