Pulp and Paper of America recalls 34 employees in N.H.

BERLIN, N.H. – Thirty-four laid-off workers from Pulp and Paper of America mills have been called back to work to fire up two idle boilers at one plant.

The recalled workers are maintenance and those with experience on the boilers at the Burgess pulp mill in Berlin which shut down in early August, putting about 250 people out of work.

“It’s positive,” said Eddie deBois, president of Local 75 of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union.

DeBois said mill officials wanted to heat some offices and preserve their assets.

American Tissue, the parent company, filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors in Delaware on Sept. 10. Company officials are supposed to present their reorganization plans in court there Friday, which is to include a plan for a cold-weather shutdown for the mills.

State and local officials have expressed concern that the mills be properly shut down to protect the equipment.

DeBois said restarting the two boilers could indicate more than preparation for a long-term shutdown. He said he talked with mill officials Friday.

“There was an indication that they would begin trying to ramp up the mill at Cascade and to do that, they would have to turn their attention to the pulp mill,” he said.

The Cascade mill in Gorham manufactures tissue and fine papers. It had employed 550 people before being closed last month.

If the intention is to close the mills for the winter, deBois said, “it’s a race against the clock and Mother Nature,” he said. “We need to get that mill running to preserve it. If American Tissue can reorganize and wants to sell, they need to be attractive to potential buyers.”

About 50 millworkers have left the area to find jobs in the southern part of the state, deBois said.

An advertisement in several state and local newspapers encourages workers from Berlin to permanently replace union workers at the Finch paper mill in Glens Falls, N.Y., where workers have been on strike since July.

DeBois said his is one of the unions at the Glens Falls plant.

“We haven’t had anyone sign up, and we’re not into replacement jobs,” he said.