Fraser Paper workers qualify for trade adjustment aid

WASHINGTON – Workers losing their jobs at Nexfor Fraser Paper Inc. will be eligible to receive Trade Adjustment Assistance, according to U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine.

In April, Nexfor Fraser Paper Inc. announced it would cut 325 jobs at its Fraser Paper operations in Maine and New Brunswick in an effort to cut costs and bolster productivity to combat pressure from foreign trade and to remain competitive.

At the Madawaska mill, where 1,024 people worked at the end of 2002, 190 jobs were lost. The cuts represent about 20 percent of the staff at Nexfor’s Edmundston and Madawaska operations. The bulk of the cuts will come this year, although some also will take place in early 2004.

Michaud had urged quick approval of the petition in a letter to U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.

“It is impossible to overstate the urgency of the economic reality that many of these families could experience in the coming months, including the overwhelming financial burdens they could be forced to bear,” Michaud wrote.

TAA assists workers through an extension of unemployment benefits, and provides training and health care tax credits.