OLD TOWN – Any millworker who has been paying into a Georgia-Pacific Corp. pension plan has several options for their annuity, even if they have been displaced, according to company officials.

Those with a retirement or 401(k) plan with a small amount of money invested have two choices.

“If the value of the plan is $5,000 or less you’re going to be paid in a lump sum,” said G-P’s senior communications manager Robert Burns. “That person also has an option to roll it over to an IRA [individual retirement account] plan.”

Anyone who chooses to take the money will be taxed severely.

“There is a tax issued for 20 percent plus another 10 percent for early withdrawal,” said Burns.

There are several options for those with more funds invested.

“If a person has an account with more than $5,000 they can leave it in the Georgia-Pacific 401(k) plan run by the Vanguard Group or roll it over to another plan,” Burns said.

These people have a choice to change where their money is invested with G-P and can make other changes within the program but cannot contribute any new funds to the plan.

There is no threat of losing what workers have placed into their retirement plan, Burns said.

“A pension is a pension,” said international representative for PACE Lucien Deschaine. “Everything is stable. There weren’t any early retirement packages offered.”

The Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers labor union had a number of its workers retire instead of being displaced when G-P stopped producing tissue at the plant April 4 and laid off 300 workers. Most people that had earned a pension retired, said Paul Randall, president of the local union.

The company, as part of the severance package, will pay healthcare coverage for all of the displaced workers until the end of August. After that time, displaced employees will need to sign up and pay for COBRA health insurance or private insurance to keep medical coverage. COBRA is a federal health insurance program designed to supplement insurance for people between jobs.

Meanwhile, some time during the next month, the union will find out if its application for a Trade Assistance Act program has been approved. This approval would help with the costs of COBRA insurance.

“There is a new provision under the TAA for states to apply for insurance costs from a NEG [National Emergency Grant] that covers the workers,” said Mike Roland, Rapid Response Director for the Maine AFL-CIO.

The federal government would pay 65 percent of the COBRA costs if the Trade Assistance Act were approved.

The application for a Trade Assistance Act grant was issued around the time 60 G-P workers were forced to take time off or vacation when the mill shut down its tissue machines on March 24. The application was modified in early April to include the 300 displaced workers.

“We’re suppose to hear back within 45 days of filing the petition,” said Roland. “They’re chronically late with these. To be realistic, I’d give them [another] month.”

After receiving the application, the U.S. Department of Labor will investigate the matter to see if the layoffs are due to foreign trade, a crucial part of the application process.

Those with questions should contact Debbi Taylor, G-P’s human resources director, at 827-0623.