PORTLAND, Maine — The U.S. Labor Department has granted Maine labor officials $336,233 to extend work training and other assistance to 262 former employees of the shuttered Verso Paper mill in Bucksport and Great Northern Paper Co. in Millinocket.
The announcement comes as three members of Maine’s congressional delegation wrote to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez on Wednesday, seeking approval for federal funds to help workers who lose their jobs as a result of foreign competition.
Some Bucksport employees already have qualified for such assistance, which Maine Department of Labor spokeswoman Julie Rabinowitz said will complement additional dislocated worker grants announced Thursday for certain affected workers in Hancock and Penobscot counties.
Rabinowitz said dislocated worker funds could help pay for things such as child care, while the Trade Adjustment Assistance does not cover such an expense.
The initial displaced worker grant was awarded more than a year ago to help workers laid off at Great Northern who also had qualified for Trade Adjustment Assistance.
Verso closed its Bucksport mill in December, leaving about 500 people jobless. It plans to cut 300 jobs at its Jay mill later this year or early next year.
In seeking trade assistance funds for the 300 Verso employees laid off in Jay, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin wrote that foreign competition played a major part in the layoffs and that “the laid-off workers face an enormous hurdle in identifying and securing alternative employment.”
The Trade Adjustment Assistance program helps fund job retraining and provides wage subsidies, which can for a period of time bridge the gap between what a person was earning and what they make at a new job.