Column from February 2003 Maine Labor News

LABOR RALLIES TO HELP
JOBLESS GNP WORKERS


By Edward Gorham
President
Maine AFL-CIO

          In recent weeks, now quickly turning into months, our minds and hearts have been with the unemployed workers laid off due directly, or indirectly, to the closing of the Great Northern Paper mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket.

          The impact of this economic disaster is huge – bringing months without pay to working families, union and non-union, across a wide area of Maine.

Trying to Help

          Organized labor and a wide range of social and community service agencies (as you will read elsewhere in this issue of the Maine Labor News) have gone all out to help in this time of trouble. These efforts range from direct cash donations by union brothers and sisters and their unions, to broad based fund raising events and direct donations of food and supplies. Special assistance programs designed to help workers after shutdowns have set up training sessions and have been literally working around the clock to counsel and assist the unemployed and their families. At the state level the Maine AFL-CIO has working a special group whose efforts are focused on expanding and coordinating the programs we have to provide the maximum help possible for our union brothers and sisters and their families.

          We know there is no assistance, no social program or donation that can replace a good job, at a fair rate of pay with a well designed benefit package. But we must and we are, at this difficult time, doing all that is possible to help these working families weather this severe economic storm.

Problem for All of Maine

The second, and most important step, is to find a buyer for Great Northern and get the mills up and running again and the workers back to work. The full resources of Governor John Baldacci and his Administration are focused on this effort. Some progress has been made in agreement on an experienced team, in concessions by companies who are owed millions of dollars by GNP and, particularly, in the sustaining operation that is now maintaining the basic utilities at the mills to enable them to restart quickly

It is obvious that the problem created by the shut down of GNP goes far beyond the immediate area and is of deep and lasting concern to our entire state. According to Maine Department of Labor estimates, a prolonged shutdown of the mills would claim 5,000 jobs and eliminate $115 million in annual wages from the state and national economies.

Michaud Seeks Funds

          Not only Governor Baldacci but also Second District Congressman Mike Michaud has put the full resources of his office into the combined effort to help the impacted working families of Maine and to restore the mills to operation again.

          Responding to Great Northern's closing, Mike said he would hold regular Friday office hours in Millinocket and East Millinocket. A staff member will be present from 9 a.m. to noon Fridays at the I Care Ministries office, 45 Spring St. in Millinocket and from 1 to 5 p.m. Fridays at the Millinocket Municipal Building, Main Street. Michaud also is in contact with Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao urging approval of a $22.9 million in emergency funds for GNP workers. And, in recent weeks, Michaud, who worked many years at the mills himself, has met personally with many of the workers and their families.

          Indeed people of all walks of life, union  and non-union have responded to the plight of the GNP workers.

Maine Shows It Cares

          Assistance for workers and others affected by the shutdown of bankrupt Great Northern Paper came and is continuing to come from all over Maine and it has meant a lot to our brothers and sisters not only to get the help but also to know that Maine people care.

          "I'm just so overwhelmed to see so many people come together," said Herbert Clark of Millinocket, a 38-year GNP employee, Pipefitters union official and member of the Katahdin Central Labor Council. "It almost brings tears to your eyes to know so many people care and to know you aren't alone. We all have the same goal and that is to get these mills up and running, getting people back to work and on their feet again."

Cannot Ignore Bush Failures

          But in a recent, wide ranging “State of the District” speech Congressman Michaud called our attention to the fact that we simply cannot ignore the ongoing policies of President Bush that have hit Maine and the nation with the double whammy of massive job losses and a recession-like economy.

          Mike needs our support in his new job in Washington to help forge new policies that will produce jobs and not destroy them – that will open factories and not close them.

          The situation at Great Northern is only part of a much larger picture of state and national disaster caused in large part by the North American Free Trade Agreement. And from the Bush Administration we got more of the same when they demanded and got from Congress Fast Track trade promotion which promises to destroy more jobs and close more factories and mills than NAFTA.

          "NAFTA has spurred a $360 billion national trade deficit and cost the people of Maine 24,000 high-paying manufacturing jobs," Michaud said.

Tax Cuts for the Rich

          The congressman praised Maine people for their "spirit, character and generosity" that will help them through hard times, but he expressed marked disappointment in President Bush's lack of an economic stimulus program to help Mainers and other Americans get back on track.

Mike pointed out that Bush has given $600 million in tax breaks to the wealthy but has done nothing for the average American.

          "I'd like him to visit Millinocket where the unemployment rate is 32 percent and rising, give him a look at the real world," Michaud told a group of Maine students.

          U.S. economic growth dropped sharply in the final three months of last year. The American people, worried about job prospects and the possibility of war, held back on spending while business investment remained weak and factories in Maine and elsewhere continued to either close or layoff workers.

Suffer from “Jobless Recovery”

The economic and job situation in Maine  and elsewhere is serious and Bush is doing nothing to make any significant change. The following are just a few of the facts we need to know, need to discuss with other workers and need to use to demand meaningful economic stimulus and positive action to create jobs. We cannot afford to continue what many economists are now calling “the jobless recovery.”

          Despite the fact that the recession is widely believed to have ended last year, unemployment rose throughout 2002, ending the year at 6.0% in December. Since the most recent economic peak, the jobless rolls have expanded by 2.8 million.

          Compared with the end of 2000, there are now 2.1 million fewer private sector jobs. Payrolls contracted not only over the recessionary year of 2001, but also over the alleged recovery year of 2002.

Huge Decline in Jobs

          The decline in private sector jobs at this point in the recovery is greater than in any of the past three recessions/recoveries.

          The lack of job creation also has led to long spells of unemployment. The average unemployment spell has increased by more than five weeks compared with its level in the fourth quarter of 2000. There are now 1.7 million people who have been jobless for more than half a year.

          The lack of employment growth has led to slower growth of the labor force, as fewer people choose to compete for scarce jobs. The labor force is now growing half as fast as it was two years ago, a sure sign of a weak labor market.

Wages and Income Down

          The rise in unemployment has led to slower wage growth, real income losses, and higher poverty rates.

          We cannot stand by silently and watch the continued erosion of American manufacturing and the continued loss of American jobs. As this is happening the Bush Administration and the Republican congressional leaders are fighting, not for workers, but instead to get even bigger tax breaks for the rich. The twisted priorities of these so called “leaders” do not reflect America’s values or the concerns and needs of Maine and American working families.

          We need to press our elected representatives at all levels for meaningful action now and we need to begin early on the essential job of electing candidates in 2004 who will fight, work and vote to help working families in Maine and the entire nation.

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