Union OKs new contract that includes pay cut

BIDDEFORD – Unionized workers at Biddeford Textile Corp. have ratified a three-year contract that includes a 50-cent-an-hour pay cut sought by management to help get the blanket maker back on solid financial ground.

The 63-32 vote Saturday by the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees represents a rebirth for the one of the city’s major employers, which was in danger of closing for good a year ago.

Observers said the estimated 250 textile workers had no choice but to accept concessions if the plant is to survive in the face of cheap foreign competition.

If the new contract’s wage concessions effectively revive the company by improving profits, then workers eventually should share in the financial returns, Lessard said.

Jody McLean, a machinist at the mill for 14 years, said he reluctantly supported the contract, calling the pay cut “only temporary.”

“I don’t particularly like the pay cut,” said Cassidy Cartwright, an assembly line worker. “But it doesn’t seem unrealistically unfair. They’ll give us back the 50 cents.”