Idled mill workers get Labor assistance

BAILEYVILLE – Laid-off workers at the Louisiana Pacific plant have been granted Trade Adjustment Assistance by the U.S. Department of Labor, Maine’s congressional delegation announced this week.

“The strand-board manufacturer … is closing its doors due to a decline in production,” the delegation said in a news release. “The company attributes the decrease in business to foreign competition, particularly from Canada.”

Last year, the Oregon-based company announced it planned to “curtail” production, idling 102 workers. It blamed the shutdown on market conditions.

“This Trade Adjustment Assistance is vital to the laid-off workers of Louisiana Pacific,” U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and Rep. Mike Michaud said in a joint statement. “In these difficult times it is essential that workers get all the support they need to help them re-enter the work force, especially since the layoffs affect not only the workers, but their families and the community as well. We are happy that our concerns were heeded by the Department of Labor and pledge to do all we can to secure additional assistance.”

The congressional members formed a transition team in November to coordinate state, local and federal efforts to assist the more than 100 workers who lost their jobs.

Because the assistance petition was approved by the Department of Labor, the displaced workers will have access to benefits such as training, education, job search and relocation allowances, and re-employment services including counseling, interview training, and resume assistance.

Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance, a program for older workers displaced by trade, the congressional delegation members said, was not awarded in this preliminary announcement. The three plan to appeal that decision.

Louisiana Pacific bought the mill from Georgia-Pacific Corp. three years ago. The mill had operated on a limited basis for almost two years before that, and Georgia-Pacific gave pink slips to 115 salaried and hourly employees after the September sale.

After off-and-on operating schedules, the mill resumed production in June of last year, but in October company officials announced its latest shutdown.

In December, a company spokeswoman said she did not have anything new to report and the mill would remain closed because of market conditions. The spokeswoman, Mary Cohn, did not return a telephone call Thursday.