Mill Workers And Supporters Rally For A Fair Contract

By Nathan Bernard, Maine Beacon:

On Thursday, more than 100 people rallied with United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9, who work at the Sappi Mill in Skowhegan, for a fair contract.

The local, which is the largest of four unions at the pulp mill, serving 475 workers, has been in contract negotiations with management since their previous contract expired in August. Two weeks ago, 96% of USW Local 9 rejected the company’s final contract offer citing the need for higher wages, better health care options, improved care for retired employees and abolishing forced 24-hour shifts.

Working conditions have been particularly dire during the COVID pandemic despite the mill generating record profits and growing market share, USW Local 9 president Pat Carleton told Beacon.

“We were deemed essential workers, so we came to work everyday. Our folks stayed in the mill working rampant overtime hours straight through the pandemic,” Carleton said. “But if you’re deemed exposed to COVID then you’re sent home with no pay… Our members have had just about enough.”

USW Local 9 workers have been forced to work seven days a week with no time off. In some instances, this schedule continued for weeks and included mandatory 24-hour shifts, workers said.

“This past summer, I had employees that were not just working seven days a week, for weeks on end, with no days off, but also having to work a 24-hour shift in the middle of that,” Carleton told Beacon. “And that puts the employee in extreme danger when driving home, we’ve already had several accidents.”

Despite the clear danger those long work hours pose to workers, management has been reluctant to ban the practice in current contract negotiations, perpetuating what organizers say is a potentially deadly scenario for workers.

“The company committed to having something in place by 2023. I said to them, ‘How many people are going to die between now and 2023? How many people are going to be exposed to the unhealthy regimen of working 24-hours in a row, working people seven days and nights without any time off,’” Carleton continued. “While managers go home at the end of their shift, we’re stuck there.”

Management has refused numerous requests from Local 9 leaders during contract negotiations. For example, organizers said management denied pension enhancements for workers who retired prior to the August contract expiring. There are currently 15 people who will miss out on these retroactive benefits being negotiated in the new contract, many who had worked 30 to 40 years at the mill.

Negotiations around wage increases have been similarly tough. The local bargaining group says the current offer barely allows workers to cover living costs for their families.

“The 3% wage increase they’re offering doesn’t even match up with inflation. With the inflation we’re enjoying today, we’re just not going to get there,” Carleton said. “We need to have more money in our pockets to maintain our purchasing power because it’s difficult for families today, especially with inflation.”

Workers said they have also been denied improvements to their health care plans.

“They’re trying to push something on us just because they can, and that’s not going to work for us,” Carleton said. “We have a good health care program. The United States Workers Fund works to keep healthcare costs down. So we save [management] lots of money anyways, but now they want to take more.”

Prior to the rally, Sappi management released a statement saying they were “disappointed” the workers at the mill rejected their proposal.

“Sappi’s proposal contains a number of significant improvements for our employees, including very competitive pay and benefits, an enhancement to the defined benefit pension plan, wage increases of 9 percent over the life of the contract, and a lump sum payment of $5,000, worth an additional 5.5% of the average union employee’s annual earnings, exceeding anything previously offered in our industry in recent years,” the company wrote in a statement.

Carleton described Thursday’s rally as a means to build solidarity and community support. His hope is community and worker pressure will push management to propose a fair contract.

“Management has provided some hypotheticals, but haven’t put any real proposal on the table,” Carleton said. “[Workers] have been very vocal about the loss of purchasing power and how that affects their families.”

“We’re hopeful that the company realizes we’re in solidarity with IBW and the IAM and all the other unions in the state of Maine,” Carleton added. “They’re going to have to provide a better contract.”

Maine Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Allagash) briefly attended Thursday’s rally while U.S. Representative Jared Golden sent a letter of support.

“There’s more everyday, working class people in this state and in this country than anything,” Jackson said in an interview with WABI. “And you hear those people going by, honking their horns and it’s because they know what it’s like to be on the edge, to be squeezed. People are just trying to show support.”

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