Maine loggers to talk foreign labor Lawmaker: Wood-cutting contracts already down without worker influx

EAGLE LAKE – The H2B bonded labor program and foreign labor in the Maine woods will be discussed by members of the International Loggers Association on Sunday with the Maine Commissioner of Labor and St. John Valley legislators.

The 2 p.m. meeting of the ILA will be held at the Powell Memorial Center in Eagle Lake, according to Rep. Troy Jackson, D-Fort Kent.

Jackson said workers, some of whom have already been laid off from woods jobs this season, want to discuss foreign labor with Laura Fortman, Maine’s commissioner of labor.

He said some workers have reported that wood-cutting contracts have been cut short and some mill yards are already full of logs from Maine’s woods.

Foreign labor would only make the situation worse, said Jackson, a logger himself.

Sen. John L. Martin, D-Eagle Lake, Rep. Rosaire Paradis, D-Frenchville, and William Smith, D-Van Buren, will also be at the session.

Jackson said he already has two bills on logging for the Maine Legislature this session. Although not in written form yet, he said loggers will discuss his proposals Sunday.

Jackson said his bills pertain to problems created by the lack of action by the federal Department of Labor. Despite years of efforts, Jackson said, federal officials still have not set labor rates for much of the mechanized equipment at work in the Maine woods.

He said this puts Maine workers at a disadvantage when dealing with contractors who hire bonded labor.

“Loggers are getting frustrated with the inaction,” he said Wednesday night. “Contractors are also not purchasing the equipment needed on their jobs, and then look to hired foreign labor who would come to the Maine woods with their own equipment.”

“This puts Maine loggers at risk,” he said.

ILA members also must work on approving bylaws for their organization, formed last winter during a disagreement with Irving Woodlands in Aroostook County. The disagreement forced a three-week stoppage of most work in Aroostook County forests.