Okay - so Madawaska and Gorham, NH are okay - but what about the Mills in Ashland. What is going to be done about that? Once the mills in Ashland close you will see a once prosperous town become nothing but a ghost town eventually. People will be hard pressed to stay here. Most of the people who work at these mills have lived in the area all of their lives and have been employeed at these mills all of their adult lives. These are families whose grandparents grew up here. People say leave but they don't want to leave besides it's not that easy - you can't just leave when you have a house you can't sell or the ability to find a job elsewhere.

All of the local business also rely on these mills, many of which are already seeing hard times hitting and with the State paying for 90% of a state of the art School in Ashland you would think that they would certainly want to help keep the mills open so that there will be some kids to go to that School. Don't get me wrong - Ashland needs new school but they also need those Mills to operate in order for people to be able to stay in the area and live. It seems like a lot of has been done to help other areas of Maine where mills have been an issue like in Domtar in Baileyville and the mills in Millinocket but what about in Aroostook County. We are always forgotten about - after all Northern Maine is Bangor right? LOL I would really like to put the challenge out there to Gov Baldacci to help us and to not forget about Ashland.

BREAK THE !@#$%^&*() UNION

X2 bobsmith, X2. If people want to keep their jobs, the unions must be abolished, it's that simple.

bobsmith :it is not the union that put the company in this poistion.Years ago when the company was making money they spent there profits buying closed papermill all over the US.They should have put it back in there mills and they didn't.So the competion is kicking there behinds.The company got a 40 million dollar loan from the canadian gov.just a few months ago and now they have none.What did they do with that (they gave CEO,CCO and a few other guys up there bonuses of 300,000 dollars each.)They must watch the news and saw what was happening with the banking system and decided to do the same.I feel real sorry for the people who work there,it must be a very stressful time......

If the people that worked there were non union I would feel bad for them. If they were union, then they made their bed , now sleep in it. The unions of this country have created a tail wagging the dog economic death. Who is going to invest money in a company under attack from mindless morons that work there? NO ONE.

outdoorsguy, I was born and raised in Ashland. I hate going home now and seeing my town almost a ghost town. Pinkham and Levesque and Fournier ran tight profitable companies up there when I was working in the woods. Potato farming was everywhere. Now it's a welfare colony. I'm torn up coming home.

Well, as Gomer Pyle used to always say......surPRIIISE, SURRRPRIIIISE, SURPRISE!!!

Union workers continue living in denial. Ask any young ambitious man that has recently worked at Fraser, and he will tell you that they are told by their seniors to drag their heels rather than put in a good day's work because it makes them look bad. You literally need to call an electrician to change a light bulb or reset a swich. If we all ran our businesses like Fraser, we'd all be filing for bankruptcy. Double and triple time on Sundays and holidays? If a worker is called out of sequence for overtime, the worker that should have been called still gets paid even though he never worked the shift? Guys bragging about sleeping during the whole night shift and then being able to work a second job the next morning because they're all rested? "Movethen" No, we are not all morons as you say we are. We're simply very well informed individuals by workers that brag about these things and then expect us to feel sorry for them. Yes, UNIONS are the culprit, not only for Fraser, but for many other failing industries. Greed, it'll come back and bite you in the ass!

Yup the same mindless morons blame the unions................ sorry to hear about another mill closing and it wouldn't matter if the mills were union or non-union (scabs) the paper industry is dead in maine so everyone just admit it and move on. Yup them dirty union workers strapped me so much I only millions and not trillions!!! Common people show a little compasion and support the people who are on bad times..........

they forget who fought for the benifits that they take for granted. The next person that loses their pension may be you.

You mill workers better start selling all your toys that your making payments on.

It is truly sad to see all these families losing or going to lose their jobs. The brain surgeons blaming, blaming, blaming are pathetic. If they knew half of what they think they know.......Good luck to all struggling with this.

Union and non-Union....I've done both.Management complained,workers complained.The perfect employee just could not be found.As an employee you would like decent pay,good medical insurance,and respect from the people you work for. My latest wisdom for young people is this..Who would of thought I would get old this fast???

Unless the mill makes toilet paper the Paper Mills are finished. This is a new age of electronic communication not paper.

i worked at fraser for almost 20 years and the only thing the union did was scrub managements back, tell them where to cut jobs and lets not forget saving the lazy ones job. when you needed them, they would tell you not to stir the pot. well, look where it got you. and alot of the ones who left the

for management r out of work now. the union at one time was needed to protect the worker, not the lazy worker but a hard worker. it became a joke seeing how they bought out the elected union officers. glad i'm out of there and feel really bad for the others.

You people are talking unions and paper mills - None of which pertain to the Ashland mills. Maybe you should know of what you talk before you come on here and gloat or critic at others peoples expense. These are people just trying to make a living and raise their families.

And Leumas - I've lived here all my life as well and I don't see where we are a ghost town - not yet anyways. Yes things have changed but some of that change has been good. While some business have closed others have opened and many of the old are still prosperous. It is not the welfare colony you say it is (which I find offensive for you to say) - however it may soon be if these mills don't open. . Maybe you shouldn't come home if you don't like the way we live here.

Farmer101 Think you better look at yourself, I grow up in the Aroostook County, It wasn't the mill workers that had all the toys, it was the farmers kids so look somewhere else to throw your comments, what is the farming that bad in the county that you can't buy your kids and grandkids those kid of toys anymore, and you're jealous that somebody else can have them!!!

How come everytime there is a story about a mill going under there is always somebody throwing their two cents in about the mill workers having to sell all their "toys"...do I sense some jealousy?

I feel the same way... These millworkers work hard for their money and if they have "toys" that their choice. It not anyone else business. My husband is a millworker, my father was a millworker, and I do feel that there is a lot of jealous people out there.The issue is they may be lossing their jobs and what can we do to keep the mills going (jobs) Let's think more on keeping jobs in Maine

It is useless to argue about about whether or not union millworkers are paid too much.....the only measure that matters is what they are paid in relation to foreign workers plus the cost of importation. In these terms, millworkers make far too much money......I'm not sure there's much to be jealous of in terms of the life of a millworker right now either, but having lived in a milltown, many of them certainly could have made better plans for the future with regards to their money.

bobsmith , Sledman

Unions protect the workers rights its the economy that was screwed up by George W. Bush, NAFTA and the greedy investors on Wall Street .It management responsibly for the success of the company

Besides that who would own a pulp mill that goes across an international border . The company must had to get a passport for everyone that worked there . It see a bailout for the forest industry from both of the border unless there is rule in NAFTA against it

"its management's responsibility for the success of the company"......this statement, patycat, shows exactly why unions haven't worked as well in practice as in theory....

Joshua

If you the wages of Mexico then gid rid of the unions

Joshua - I am so glad that you think it is so easy to plan ahead. I'm sure many of these people thought that they were planning ahead - but you know what life happens and even the best laid plans can be broken. Yea mill workers make good money but they work hard for it too. As for the foreign workers issue - isn't that why all of our industry and not just lumber is going oversees - shame on American for not protecting our own.

outdoorsguy, trust me I feel the same way was you do about America not protecting its own, and I grew up in Madawaska so I know that millworkers work darn hard for the money they make, but what I am saying is at the end of the day, how we feel about the situation makes no difference, the only thing that makes a difference is the numbers....but growing up in Madawaska I also saw a culture of people buying things they could never afford on credit and lease. When you work in an industry that has been waning for years, buying everything in sight on credit is just not good planning...and trust me, I didn't learn that lesson the easy way myself, either, just maybe not to the level of a lot of familiies I know from back home.

The issue is... that while the Madawaska/Edmunston mill IS making a profit....the other assets such as the sawmills are loosing so much money that Madawaska cannot keep up with the losses.

They won the battle on May 01,2003 SHOCK AND AWE!!!!!! The people who were thrown out of there jobs since day won the war. You can't do to a people what that mangement did to that communuity back then and now, and stay profitable. Gov. John Baldacci supported what these cronnies did back. Saying that cutting those jobs would preserve the mills future. The future has arrived. Guess what he nows has one of them cronnies on his payroll. God is watching it sometimes takes time but justice will alway prevail!!!!!

?

Its pretty sad, but its funny that people can complain about how millworkers make so much money. the job is out there for everyone to apply. i got hired thinking that it was the best job in the world! was i right? NO!! I bounce back and forth from nights to days. sometimes 6 hour shifts sometimes 12 hour shifts sometimes 18 hour shifts. Do we make good hourly wages? yes! Do we work hard for our wages? Damn right!! I hear stories of fraser mill workers working at fraser pushing a broom for $20.00 an hour! Thats a bunch of B.S. In the past several years they have cut many jobs and given the extra work to the guys on the floor. Do we complain! NO! We swallow it and come to work the next day and do our job as we are told. For everyone that thinks paper making is a dieing trade because of computers THINK AGAIN! we make many specialty papers. Next time you go to McDonalds and order a big mac think about who made the paper around the clam shell of your burger, think about who makes the paper for your atm receipts, who makes paper for sugar packets to put in your coffee when your eating your breakfast, who makes paper for labels on your budweiser or sam adams, who makes the paper for your meow mix bags for your cats, who makes pharmaceutical paper for your prescriptions? It sure is hell isnt the internet, so dont say its a dieing trade because of the internet!

All I really want to say is I'm in awe at how many bitter, heartless, angry people there are in our state. ((I hope none of you are my neighbors, family, or friends because I know I don't allow myself around such hostility in the real world...)) Furthermore, it's unfortunate that in times like this, instead of rallying together and supporting one another, some people choose to pick on the man that's already down. Stop being so damn ignorant and realize that every time ANY business or company goes under, EVERYONE suffers. From Allagash to Portland and every town in between. It's a domino effect. Are some people too lost in the sauce of anger and jealousy to see this? Get off the union slamming. Whether or not mill workers are for or against it, it's their jobs, their careers, and that's what it is. It's what pays the bills, buys groceries, buys gas, sends kids to college, etc. If any part of Fraser closes, we're all effected. I suggest to those who believe that the entire paper industry is dead due to the internet or whatnot, that you google search the different types of paper products Fraser makes. Tell me if you can get all those services off the world wide web.

I've said it once, and I'll say it again, we need to start being humane to one another. Times are tough. We will all have our own struggles at one point or another. And google Dave Matthews Band's 'Funny the Way it is' lyrics. We all need to check ourselves every now and then.

I was hired in 1979 and every year hence, there were concerns of low cash flow, low stock valuations along with high cost of raw materials, transportation, manpower while operating with small antiquated machines, etc. By the early 90's, there were new paper mills worldwide and although Fraser was serving a niche market, competition became much keener. From my perspective, the straw that finally broke this camels back is the decline of the American dollar. In the past, the conversion always served Fraser well. Why Management decided to beat a dead horse with reopening mills in N.H. and Millinocket is beyond reckoning. As a result of many bad decisions, the St. John Valley will face many challenges in the future and everyone should support innovation and strong leadership. Best of luck to all of you and I hope your future proves that Northern Maine is truly the "Crown of Maine".

Let me tell you what is going to happen. Irving will own this mill wich will be run by Canadians for a few months and then it will close down. Irving will beg money from the state of maine to keep the mill running. Then after he gets the money and runs the mill a few months, he will close again, then move all the contense of the mill to canada just like he did in the pinkham mill in ashland. So take the back seat Americans!

This is happening in our state yet, so called congressman Michaud is looking to obtain !!!!!!!!20 MILLION!!!!!!!! in building trail infratructure for the state of Maine! What a bunch or ignoramaces! Can they not even see the fire that is in their faces? Man, what ales them?

Cottontail, Let me tell you, it appears to me that the "Wonderful State of Maine fell down and broke it's crown"!

Note to Mainefriend: don't discount the people from the Valley too quickly. As a result of good old French ingenuity and community volunteers, Ft. Kt. has the incredible annual Can-Am Sled Races and the new Ski Facility hosting biathalon athletes. Madawaska, along with its Canadian neighbor, hosts a weekend-long snowmobile jamboree(?) and the Acadian Festival celebrations just to cite a few examples of local individuals working to bring money into the area. There are many opportunities out there....what's needed are for folks to capitalize on them. Maybe it's time to start up another Jade East, or how about making a Valley Potato Vodka? My Mainefriend, I believe the Crown of Maine is just suffering a big dent.