BAILEYVILLE – Union members are scheduled to vote today on a tentative agreement with Louisiana-Pacific Corp. that would allow about 100 workers to return to LP’s newly acquired oriented strand board plant.

LP bought the plant from Georgia-Pacific Corp. last year. More than 100 workers received pink slips from their former employer after the sale.

But LP did not signal that it wanted to close the plant, and members of Local 1367 of the Paper, Allied Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union will vote today on a proposed contract. If the agreement is approved, LP officials said Monday, the plant is expected to be up and running by the latter half of the second quarter.

“That would be April through June,” LP spokesman David Dugan said.

Roy Curtis, president of the local, said he would recommend that the rank and file vote in favor of the proposed contract. “Our objective is to get the mill running and get people back to work and get a fair shake while we’re doing it,” Curtis said.

Neither side would comment on the terms of the contract.

In September, G-P handed 25 salaried and 90 hourly employees severance packages. At the time, they were given virtually no information about the mill’s future. The only thing LP officials would say was it was too early to talk about hiring practices.

The plant produces oriented strand board, or OSB, an engineered panel product made of strands sliced from small logs and bonded with a binder.

Dugan said Monday that OSB prices remain lower than what the company would like to see. “But demand has been fairly steady … for 2002, and we are hopeful that will be maintained in 2003. We are cautiously optimistic,” he said.

Curtis said the company plans to operate the mill with fewer people so federal funds would be needed for job retraining. “They are going to try to run the mill with less people than what G-P did. So there are going to be some people out there without a job,” Curtis said. “These people need the chance to go to school or retraining.”

Dugan would not comment on how many employees would be hired back. “It’s a little preliminary to provide a number for you,” Dugan said.

If the contract is approved, Dugan said, the next step would be to begin hiring management staff.

As a part of the sale, LP completed transfer of its Texas and Louisiana plywood mills to G-P in exchange for G-P’s OSB mill in Maine. LP also acquired G-P’s chip-and-saw mill, which has been closed since July 2000. The company did not indicate if it would resume production.

Last year, LP announced its intent to sell its plywood business along with some other businesses and assets, in order to significantly reduce debt and enhance its long-term competitiveness. LP produces 6 billion feet a year of OSB, making it the world’s largest producer.

Two years ago, G-P shut the plant down because of poor market conditions, affecting 80 hourly employees. About 45 workers were retained for administrative and limited-operation functions.