Loggers appeal for fair conditions Commissioner hears labor concerns

EAGLE LAKE – Area loggers called for a level playing field and a look into foreign labor in the Maine woods after garnering the attention of the state’s top labor official and St. John Valley legislators Sunday.

About 30 people attended a two-hour meeting of the International Loggers Association at the Powell Memorial Center in Eagle Lake, where Maine Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman listened to loggers’ concerns, according to Rep. Ross Paradis, D-Frenchville.

Fortman joined Sen. John L. Martin, D-Eagle Lake, William Smith, D-Van Buren, Rep. Troy Jackson, D-Fort Kent, and Paradis at the meeting, where loggers talked about foreign workers and the H-2B bonded labor program.

The federal H-2B visa program provides 66,000 visas to foreign workers for jobs in the United States, including logging jobs in the Maine woods.

With some woodcutting contracts cut short and mill yards already filled with logs from Maine’s woods, Paradis said Sunday that loggers voiced concerns that such foreign labor issues are complicating the situation.

While loggers declare there is enough labor “on the American side” to do the job, Paradis said, U.S. workers are at a big disadvantage in some ways to foreign workers – for example, Canadians receive free health insurance and get paid in U.S. dollars.

Loggers also face a recent proposal by the Department of Labor to allow foreign loggers to obtain agricultural worker visas through the federal H-2A program, which could mean even more foreign workers in the Maine woods.

“[Loggers] were saying that we have to convince the state Department of Labor and the federal government that this is not a fair, level playing field. If you make it more enticing and fair, there will be Americans working in the woods,” Paradis said.

Fortman told loggers that she would work to address the issues they brought to her attention, Paradis said. He also said the labor commissioner’s visit was an important morale booster for loggers and lent credibility to what the ILA is doing.

The organization was formed last winter during a disagreement with Irving Woodlands in Aroostook County. The disagreement forced a three-week stoppage of work in most northern Maine forests.

Almost a year later, the ILA is working to strengthen its numbers and create purchasing power for area loggers. After speaking with Fortman, ILA members reviewed a draft of their bylaws and discussed efforts to further organize the group.

The organization has a temporary executive director right now, but plans to hold elections for the position during its next meeting, on Saturday, Jan. 8, at the Powell Memorial Center.

If the Sunday meeting is any indication, Paradis said, the ILA is moving in a positive direction.

“The ones in attendance were convinced that they need a strong union,” he said. “They’re ready to do that. The task now is to get many others to join, because the more you have and the more united you are, the better it’s going to work.”