Unionized workers at the Woodland Pulp mill in Baileyville went on strike over the weekend, saying that the mill’s management is trying to dilute the skilled expertise of its employees by introducing a new worker classification.
About 80 workers with three different unions voted to strike, with workers from two of those unions — International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and Service Employees International Union — walking out over the weekend. Members of the millwrights union are expected to join them in the coming days.
The strike comes at a time when more workers are trying to organize into unions, but despite recent high-profile union victories such as the writer’s strike in Hollywood, the number of unionized workers in the United States continues to decline, according to a report earlier this year by National Public Radio.
A major point of contention between labor and management in Baileyville is the mill’s expressed interest in creating a new job classification that would have workers do a wider variety of tasks. The members of the unions believe this is an attempt to undercut the unions’ bargaining power by de-emphasizing special skills among the mill’s workforce.
The unions accuse the mill’s management of waiting until contract negotiations were underway before it brought up the job classification proposal, and they say management then refused to provide satisfactory financial information to union negotiators.
A Woodland Pulp spokesman said the proposal is meant to enhance the skill set of the mill workers, not to water it down.
The machinists union has filed complaints against Woodland Pulp with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the company of continued bad faith bargaining, union officials said.
Joshua Kinney, president of the Machinists Union Local 1490 said the proposal runs counter to the expertise the mill workers have developed over the years.
“It’s a problem for our members because we all take passion in our core trade,” he said. “By being labeled a general mechanic or mechanical technician, it’s like anybody can do our job and there’s no sense in having pride in what you do.”
A spokesman for Woodland Pulp said the proposed new classification represents a “philosophical shift” of giving the mill’s workers a broader skill set.
“We don’t intend to dilute the skills of our craftsfolk,” Brendan Wolf, the mill’s spokesman, said. We want those people to do that interchangeably. We want to enhance those skills.”
Despite the strike, the mill in Baileyville has been one of the bright spots in Maine’s manufacturing economy, which has witnessed the closure of several paper mills over the past decade-plus. Just seven years ago, the mill expanded into tissue production and added 80 new jobs to its workforce.
Negotiators with the unions and the mill are expected to meet with a federal mediator on Nov. 8 to try to reach agreement.
