OSB mill closure disappoints, but does not surprise workers

After laying off workers at its oriented strand board (OSB) mill in Baileyville last November, Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP) announced that it was permanently closing the facility on April 15.

"We weren't surprised," says Baileyville Town Manager Scott Harriman. "But we are disappointed, obviously. Over 100 jobs were lost in Washington County, and it's a terrible blow."

"It's nothing we didn't expect," agrees Steve Goodwin of Pembroke, who is one of the workers laid off in November and vice president of the local union. "We tried to do an employee buy-out, but they didn't want to sell. After the notice came out about the final shutdown, I asked about the buy-out again, but we haven't heard anything yet."

Harriman says that he is actively working on economic recovery for the area, although there is nothing concrete to report. "I'm not sitting back," he stresses.

Roy Curtis of Calais, president of Local 1367, has been working as a peer support worker and reports that approximately 57 of the 104 laid-off workers are still unemployed. Thirty-seven are working, and 15 are taking classes. "Some I haven't been able to get ahold of. They haven't replied to my letters and phone calls, but I'm going to continue trying to contact them.

"I feel like I've been helping," says Curtis. "I'd like to see people who are looking for work [be involved] with on-the-job training. Our people are qualified for it, and they can collect a wage while they're training."

Curtis is also a member of the Washington County transition team that was formed in the wake of the OSB mill's closure last winter. "We try to help in the transition from unemployment to meeting their needs. We try to get information out to them, and I think we've been successful."

In announcing the closure, Jeff Wagner, LP' vice president and general manager of OSB, stated, "LP looked long and hard at options to keep this mill operating before making this difficult decision. Unfortunately, it is not economically feasible to continue operation of the mill. It would require considerable investment to address the age and design of the production equipment. In addition, we will be faced with a large expenditure to comply with MACT regulations that go into effect in early 2006."

The mill was not operating at the time LP acquired it from Georgia-Pacific in 2002, and it has run intermittently over the past years.