Local 14 Solidarity Center Improvements Continue

Work continues at the Local 14 Solidarity Center, and the building is looking better all the time. On March 25, the Union Construction Academy brought their pre-apprenticeship class to the hall. They helped paint the old media room and bathrooms, along with taking on several other jobs around the building.

The bathroom renovation is now almost finished, and floor painting has begun, with two coats already applied. During the third week of June, Randy Berry, with help from Dick Paradis, installed new windows and repaired the deteriorating sills underneath. These improvements will help preserve the building and keep it stronger and more weather tight.

Thank you to everyone who has donated time, labor, materials, and monetary support. Every improvement helps keep this important labor landmark alive for future generations.

Jay Strike Project Brings Labor History to Life

The Scontras Center for Labor and Community Education continues to work with the Local 14 Solidarity Center, USM students, faculty, and community partners on the Jay Strike Project, as we look ahead to the 40th anniversary of the 1987–88 International Paper strike in Jay.

In Fall 2025, Dr. Jono Anzalone’s SOC 301: Qualitative Research Methods class focused its semester project on the Jay strike. Eleven undergraduate students conducted interviews with former strikers, retired mill workers, union-affiliated workers, and community members affected by the strike. Through this work, students learned qualitative research skills while listening directly to workers’ stories about dignity, respect, solidarity, community, and power.

In Spring 2026, Dr. Libby Bischof taught the Maine Labor History Workshop, a hands-on applied learning course where USM students studied Maine labor history while working directly on the Jay Strike Project. As part of the class, Dr. Bischof brought her students to the Local 14 Solidarity Center in Jay to meet and talk with the retirees group that gathers daily for coffee. Students also heard from strike activists Peter Kellman, Randy Berry, and Linda Deane.

The Scontras Center also offered a Maine Labor History class through its developing Labor Leadership Certificate program. This non-credit class was designed for adult learners in the labor community, with participants including teachers, firefighters, postal workers, retirees, and other union members. The class included a unit on Maine’s paper industry and the Jay strike, with former strikers Linda Deane and Randy Berry sharing their experiences.

A major part of this work has been made possible through collaboration with the Osher Map Library. The library is temporarily housing the Peter Kellman Papers, which include 18 boxes of newspaper articles, photos, correspondence, and other materials related to the Jay strike and Maine’s paper industry. This gives students, faculty, and researchers direct access to important primary sources.

The Osher Map Library also played a key role in preserving the Local 14 strike mural, by taking the digital pictures of each piece that were used to create the digital reproduction. The original mural has now been brought inside the Solidarity Center, while a weatherproof digital replica hangs outside.

USM Digital Projects is also helping make the history of the strike more widely available by digitizing key documents and more than 120 hours of archival video from strike mass meetings. Once posted online, these materials will be available to researchers, students, labor activists, and the public. This project connects students with workers, archives with community memory, and the past with the struggles working people still face today.

Otis Federal Credit Union Has Labor Roots

Otis Federal Credit Union began with working people helping working people. At a time when it was difficult for many average families to get a loan, members of the Otis Paper Mill wanted a cooperative financial institution owned and controlled by its local members.

On April 17, 1954, the first meeting of the founders of OTIS Federal Credit Union was held at Moore’s Hall in Livermore Falls, then known as Union Hall. The idea grew from discussions among members of Local 8 of the Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers, after a labor union meeting where a resolution supported unions forming credit unions.

The founders pooled deposits of $5 each and organized a credit union for the workers of Otis Paper Mill and their families. The young credit union operated from several locations in its early years, including the basement of Reney Therrien’s home on Otis Street in Chisholm and later, in 1957, from Therrien’s home on Main Street in Chisholm.

Over the years, OTIS has been there for working families during hard times, including strikes, layoffs, and economic uncertainty. For many members, that support helped families get through difficult periods and, in some cases, helped them hold onto their homes. Seventy years later, OTIS has grown into a full-service credit union serving nearly 12,000 members, while still carrying forward the cooperative values it was founded on.

When OTIS heard that the Western Maine Labor Council had purchased the former Local 14 union hall and that it would become the Local 14 Solidarity Center for Labor and Community Education, they were the first to step forward with support. Their $5,000 donation helped with the restoration and preservation of the historic Local 14 strike mural.

From its beginning, OTIS was built on the values of cooperation, local control, and mutual support. Its history is another reminder of the important role unions and working people have played in building strong communities in Western Maine.