Employees: No strike at Fraser

MADAWASKA – Employees of four union locals at Nexfor Fraser Papers Inc. voted Tuesday not to go on strike.

A union official said Tuesday night that about 70 percent of the 550 workers who voted were against the strike. Essentially, the vote calls for the workers to accept the package offered by the company.

Details of the six-year contract were not released.

A two-thirds majority of those voting was needed for a strike to be called.

Employees voted twice in the last two weeks not to accept a contract offer from Aroostook County’s largest employer. After last Thursday’s vote, the company refused to make any further changes in its offer.

On Tuesday, workers attended two mass meetings at the Madawaska Knights of Columbus Hall to discuss the company’s offer and position. Workers at each meeting voted after their discussions.

The election results were reported at about 7:30 p.m.

“The workers basically voted to keep their jobs,” said Lucien Deschaine, an international representative with the PACE International Union. “The environment in the paper industry is not a healthy one.

“The vote was a pretty healthy one,” he said about the majority. “The workers still feel the company could have done something to make the pension package a bit better.”

According to Deschaine, pensioners now receive $30 per month for each year of service with the company.

Deschaine said efforts to improve the pension package would continue.

Like the previous two votes, the actual numbers from Tuesday’s vote were not made public. A union representative said nearly 550 of the 740 eligible employees voted.

A six-year contract ended Oct. 31, and employees were working under a contract extension agreement while negotiations continued.

The locals involved in the negotiations are Office Professional Employees International Union Local 232, and PACE Locals 1247, 291 and 365.

Negotiating talks have been going on at the mill since the second week of October.

The Madawaska mill has about 150 fewer employees now than it did at the start of the year. A major realignment of personnel has been done since April. It was announced then that 300 jobs would be cut from the work force of the company’s two mills, at Madawaska and Edmundston, New Brunswick.