One of Rumford's largest employers laid off about 35 of its workers and eliminated 100 positions after making changes to one of its production machines. Due to declines in the brown paper market, the mill owned by ND Paper alerted union reps this week that the facility will change production for one of its paper machines from producing brown paper to white paper.
"I’ve worked in this manufacturing plant for 34 years," said Judilee Whitemore, the president of USW Local 900 Union which represents the mill workers. "[This] is kind of the norm if you work here long enough. It’s never good, it’s never pleasant. Nobody likes to go through it, but it happens.
Whitemore says she and other union representatives at the mill were made aware of the decision during a meeting with HR on Thursday at noon.
“The mill has changed hands many times," said Rumford town manager, Stacy Carter. "It’s gone through [both] times of machines shutting down and layoffs. What we have seen in the past [is that] those jobs come back — not always to the extent that they were, but Rumford has been very resilient. We will do whatever it takes to support our residents [and] try to work through this."
While the plant normally notifies his office about layoffs ahead of time, Carter says ND Paper did not notify his office before announcing the decision.
A rapid response team will visit the local 900 union representing the mill workers starting next week to provide employment assistance to those affected. Whitemore says she's optimistic that the change will be temporary.
