What happens to a community when unfair trade shuts down the largest employer?
Go to Jay, Maine to find out.
On December 30, folks from MFTC and PICA (Peace through Interamerican Community Action) traveled to Jay, Maine to interview laid-off workers. The folks at the Otis mill in Jay were laid off in 2009 when the paper mill shut down.
The job loss was certified by the Department of Labor under TAA- Trade Adjustment Assistance- because it was due to unfair foreign trade. These interviews are a part of the “kNOw US AND THEM” project that PICA is leading, a series of interviews of laid off workers and immigrants in Maine- people impacted by the costs of free trade.
We went to the union hall in Jay to meet with the workers. These workers were members of United Steelworkers Local 11. We interviewed four laid-off workers, Sonny, Kim, Mike and Deb.
They shared with us the lost sense of community and family since the mill closed. They talked about the hardship the town and region are going through now. There are very few jobs. People are depressed. The town’s budget has shrunk so much that the youth no longer have as many options in the schools, like after school programs that keep them out of trouble.
We saw pictures from the days the mill was running, and heard the long history of the Otis mill in the town.
We will share more of their stories when we get the interviews processed and clips prepared.
- Hannah from PICA interviews Sonny, who worked at the Otis mill
Kim Lavoie of USW Local 11
- Deb worked at the Otis Mill, but now is helping other laid-off workers find new jobs through her peer support job at the Career Center. She is also going to school to be a substance abuse counselor.
Mike, left, and one of the volunteers at the Papermaking museum in Livermore Falls look over photos of workers at the mill.
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