Huhtamaki workers accept contract offer

WATERVILLE – Union workers at Huhtamaki have accepted the company’s contract offer by a narrow margin.

Members approved the three-year contract Tuesday by a vote of 191-180 after rejecting two earlier offers, according to Raymond Cairnie, the head of Local 449 of Paper, Allied Chemical and Energy Workers.

The latest offer contained few differences from the ones rejected by more than 90 percent of workers in August, Cairnie said, but fears that the mill might have to close led the union’s negotiating committee to recommend that workers accept it.

Cairnie acknowledged that many concessions were unpopular, but workers accepted them because of fears of a shutdown.

“We’re hoping to live to fight another day,” Cairnie said. “We’ll wait three years and hope things are better next time around.”

Plant manager Steve Bosse praised negotiators on both sides.

“The Waterville plant needed to become more competitive and better able to manage costs. We see this new collective bargaining agreement as a great step in that direction,” Bosse said.

The company has struggled to win contracts in recent years and has laid off workers as a result.

The former Chinet Co., which straddles the Waterville-Fairfield line, makes molded-fiber trays, cups and cup holders for the food industry.

According to Cairnie, the most important gain in the third offer was the elimination of plans to subcontract some jobs at the factory.

Workers gave up company-supported health insurance after retirement, which was used as a bridge before Medicare benefits began. They also gave up two holiday days, double-time pay on holidays and on the final day of seven-day shifts, and some other benefits.