Sappi Skowhegan Workers (USW 9) Authorize Strike, to Rally for Fair Contract on Oct. 8
WHAT: USW 4-9 workers rally for a fair contract
WHERE: 653 Waterville Rd Skowhegan
WHEN: Tues. Oct. 8, 3pm - 6:30pm
Members of United Steelworkers Local 4-9 voted on Sept. 20 to authorize a strike over excessive forced overtime, proposed reductions to vacation time and other problems at the Sappi paper mill in Skowhegan. USW 4-9 will hold a rally to call on the company to come back to the table with an offer that improves workplace safety and allows workers to achieve a real work-life balance on Tuesday, Oct. 8 from 3pm to 6:30pm at its union hall at 653 Waterville Rd in Skowhegan.
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“Nobody wants to strike, but our members have been pushed so far to the limit with forced overtime that its impacting their health and safety and their ability to see their families,” said Justin Shaw, a pipe fitter and President of USW 4-9. “We’ve had members working mandatory 24-hour shifts with only the state-mandated day off every two weeks to spend time with their families. This is also a workplace and public safety issue. When people are overworked and exhausted, they can make fatal mistakes, whether it’s operating heavy machinery or commuting to and from work. We believe we can come to an agreement with the company on these critical issues, but we need them to come back to the table with an offer that resolves this dispute.”
Shaw said that there are only two workers qualified to oversee operations on the number 2 paper machine due to a lack of qualified staff to replace retirees. One of the workers is 70 years old and works nights in order to take his wife to medical appointments during the day. Due to a lack of trained staff to replace him, he has had to work 151 nights out of a 170 nights this year. The other employee on the number 2 machine has a heart condition and recently put in his notice to retire.
“The only way those individuals got days off was to use the state earned time off law that allows workers to take a day or night off if they’ve work two consecutive weeks in a row. That’s just one of the problems we’re dealing with training deficits.” said Shaw. “Sappi has tried to avoid drafting workers for overtime by dividing work into 16 and 18-hour shifts, but that has also required workers to do two different jobs at the same time, which creates safety concerns. We need a long-term solution in our contract to this problem so that it doesn’t happen when the next generation of Sappi workers retire."
In addition, USW 4-9 is also strongly opposed to the company’s move to scale back their earned paid leave. Currently, when a worker needs to take a day off due illness or other reason under the state earned paid time off law, they receive their pay from their 40 hours of earned vacation time. In their last contract they were able to negotiate the ability to still take their full 40 hours vacation time without pay or at reduced pay, depending on how many earned time off they use. However, now Sappi is seeking to take away vacation time when employees use earned paid leave. USW 4-9 workers are also calling for contract language to ensure they receive their wage adjustments for taking on additional duties.