Out of the Woods Work

It took a tragic accident that killed 14 Central American men last September for most Mainers to realize that migrant workers spend their summers toiling in the north woods. Working deep in the state’s vast corporately owned forests, far from any town, these Spanish-speaking men were invisible until a vanload of them plunged into the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.

Last year, however, several hundred foreign workers came to Maine to work in the woods and new crews will begin arriving next month. By a quirk in federal law – some would say an intentional quirk – these workers are not granted the same level of protection as migrant workers, immigrant and otherwise, who travel the state to harvest crops. The foreign woods workers, for example, are not entitled to housing, a factor that some say caused the men to speed the nearly 100 miles from Caribou, where they lived, to the job site near the Allagash. In some cases, they are also required to buy their own equipment and pay bribes to get the necessary visa to come north.

The landowners, whose trees are cut by these men, shield themselves from responsibility by hiring contractors to recruit foreign workers. In some cases, several layers of contractors are involved.

It took the Sept. 12 accident for everyone – including the landowners – to realize that the situation must change. A bill, LD 1380, that will be heard before the Legislature’s Labor Committee for the first time Tuesday seeks to improve working conditions for woods workers by requiring safe transportation and housing. While it is too prescriptive, it is worthy of further consideration.

The timber industry says the bill will end silviculture in Maine. Instead, they have developed a new set of training programs – some of them to be conducted in Spanish, finally. These include programs to teach first aid, van driving and safe brush saw operation. Such efforts will be jointly paid for by landowners and contractors, which means the workers themselves will likely be billed for part of the cost. While these training programs are worthy and should go forward, trusting the industry to do the right thing hasn’t always worked in the past and there are no assurances that it will work now.

The biggest change is that LD 1380 would make the landowners, most of them large corporations, responsible for ensuring that workers are treated properly. To date, only the contractors, often no more than one person working out of his home, were held liable for adhering to federal labor and safety laws. It only makes sense that the companies that benefit from the backbreaking labor share in ensuring the safety of workers. However, this provision goes too far to make anyone who has forestry work done – utility companies and municipalities, for example – liable for the treatment of workers.

The bill also requires that housing in the woods be made available to forest laborers, something many suggest could have prevented the September tragedy. One large landowner, J.D. Irving, has already made arrangements to have one of its subsidiaries set up modular housing units in the woods. Other companies should also look for such positive solutions. There must also be a way for the public to know that the solutions are working.

The biggest advantage to the industry fix is that it takes effect immediately, thereby improving the working conditions of the men who will arrive this summer. LD 1380 contains solid ideas but needs further work, perhaps in the next session of the Legislature. That would give landowners and worker advocates time to find lasting solutions to a problem that is no longer invisible.