Strike may be inevitable at G-P mill

OLD TOWN – Contract talks are near an impasse between members of PACE Local 80, a millworker’s union, and management at Old Town’s Georgia-Pacific paper mill, according to union leaders who expressed concern Monday that a strike may be inevitable.

“They’re talking strike pretty strongly,” said Paul Randall, president of PACE Local 80, a union branch representing 540 millworkers. PACE is an acronym that stands for Paper, Allied Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers, and the group is an international union.

“Were we to take a vote today, I wouldn’t be surprised if the vote were to strike,” said Daniel Bird, vice president of the PACE local unit.

More talk sessions are scheduled for today and Wednesday. If negotiations break down, a strike could be called fairly quickly, according to Randall.

The two sides have been working on a six-year agreement since early September. The previous six-year contract has expired. Union leaders are complaining that management’s demand for 10 percent in salary and benefit concessions is excessive, especially since the mill has made large profits in the past few years.

“It’s corporate greed,” Randall said.

“They made $44 million last year and $72 million the year before that” at the Old Town mill, Randall said. “What will they do in a year when they just break even?” Randall asked.

Calls to a Georgia-Pacific spokesperson were not returned Monday. In the past, officials have said they will not discuss details of the negotiations to preserve the process and to ensure the longtime success of the Old Town mill.

“Over the next six years, if the company achieves its package, the city would lose $25 million in its economy,” said Duane Lugdon, international representative for PACE International.

The meetings have been characterized by a “take-it-or-leave-it” attitude, according to Lugdon.

When asked why they are seeking concessions in a time of profit, Lugdon said mill representatives “have looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘Because we can.”‘

Millworkers held a rally late Monday afternoon and were scheduled to hold another one today from 4 to 6 p.m. in front of the mill on South Main Street. They are seeking the community’s support, Randall said.

A major sticking point in the talks appears to be the company’s proposal to eliminate double-time pay for Sunday shifts in favor of straight time. The company is offering a $3,400 buyout per worker for giving up double time on Sundays. The buyout would apply only to those workers who have worked Sundays in the previous 30 days before Oct. 1, according to terms published on the union’s Web site.

Should the buyout be accepted, GP workers would not come close to earning what they do now on cumulative Sundays, according to Randall.

A 2 percent wage increase for the first three years of the contract, to be followed by a 2.5 percent increase in the contract’s third through sixth years, is a second point of contention.

“We want to see at least a ‘3’ in there,” Randall said. Calling the offer “terrible” and “outrageous,” Randall said it does not reflect the goodwill gestures millworkers have made in the past. During hard economic times, “they froze our wages and pensions, and we went back to work and set records. Those are the times when you understand, and you have to suck it up,” Randall said.

The average millworker makes $17.63 per hour and gets five weeks of vacation a year. The company also has proposed eliminating the seventh week of vacation and early retiree health insurance, union officials say.

Health insurance is another point of contention, with the company offering lower-quality coverage. The mill also wants to eliminate overtime for call-ins, Randall said.

Georgia-Pacific bought the Old Town mill in 2000. The firm employs more than 71,000 people at 600 facilities throughout the United States, Canada and 11 other countries.