Paper Mill Jobs Disappearing; Stunned Workers Look for Alternatives

Wisconsin State Journal ^ | July 11, 2008 | Barry Adams

[Diana in Wisconsin]

But...but...I thought bio-fuels were going to be the solution to this problem? Paper waste is supposedly the new-new thing for fueling our cars!

[metesky]

Unions killing off domestic paper production same as here in Maine. My neighbor was in the same position as the guy in the story, making $22.00 an hour changing rolls on the milling machine and he was the shop steward beating the drum for more money. What he got instead is no job.

[BallyBill]

Tree Huggers Rejoice!

[george76]

Unions killing off jobs and tax revenue

[muawiyah]

Local ownership and management is still possible. The local people can buy the mill.

[randita]

What a bunch of “whiners”.

[G.Mason]

... "There was hope that someone would come in and buy the place, " said Jim Kizewski, president of the United Steel Workers Local 59, which represents workers in Port Edwards and Nekoosa. "It 's a shame. I don 't know who to blame. It 's devastating to hear that your plant is shutting down. "

You might start with yourself, then look at the overburdening EPA requirements, taxes, salaries, and union demands.

In this case ignorance is painful.

[going hot]

That would mean (gulp) that the workers would own a piece of the company, and have to stay up nights worrying about how to market for success, and to keep the concern going, rather than another 2 dollars an hour raise because, well, because they have time in grade, and deserve it.

[raybbr]

Unions killing off jobs and tax revenue

Just like firefighter, police and govt. workers....

[Bernard]

....most recently specializing in fine writing stock... The job losses are tied to several factors, including ... the fact that modern paper-making machines require fewer workers.

When there is only one basket to hold all the job-market eggs, it's possible that there could be trouble when that basket tips over. The western part of the country is full of one-basket towns - they call them ghost towns.

[sam_paine]

"There aren 't too many jobs in Wisconsin Rapids that pay $50,000 a year, " said Devine, who was making $21.48 an hour at the mill plus overtime....

The job losses are tied to several factors, including mergers and acquisitions by huge international firms, the fact that modern paper-making machines require fewer workers, and unaccountably high union salaries?

Devine, 56 years old but with only 16 years under his belt, (and making $50k/yr plus bennys) didn't have enough seniority. So he had no choice but to take the severance -- 16 weeks of pay and six months of paid health insurance -- and look for a job. He worries now about when he 'll be able to retire, which he figures won't be until he 's 67.

Many of the younger workers who were laid off are going back to school, where they might get a degree that will reward them with $50k salary and no overtime, but Devine said that option isn 't realistic for him. Instead, he 's looking at an eight-week truck-driving course in Eau Claire. He hopes that will translate into a job that pays $30,000 to $40,000 a year, significantly less than he made at the mill.

If he doesn 't have a job after six months, he 'll switch to his wife 's health insurance plan. She works as a nurse four days a week. Their two children are grown and out of the house.

--

DISGUSTING! Guy's been making a better wage than most fresh-outs from college with a hard-won technical degree dispatching trucks? And I'm supposed to feel sorry for him that his 'career' of 16 years is going down the buggy-whip tubes atage 56?

56-16=40.

What did he do with his life until 40 when he got his cushy job talking on the dispatch radio?

Meanwhile, the guy has a wife working and able to provide health insurance....and single young kids going to school and starting out in the workforce are about to have to start paying this guy's Social Security benefits!!!

This is one of those whiners that Phil Gramm was talking about, and one of those callers Rush would berate for discounting out of hand as "not an option" moving, going back to school, etc....thus complaining there's no options precisely because he's setting limitations on his own marketability.

Oh, and if you're an employer, and you read this article along with his resume...do YOU want to hire Mr. Devine?

[UltraKonservativen]

No mention of the costs imposed by the EPA on the US paper industry to clean up smoke stack emissions and water effluents. While it is a good thing not to have to smell the “rotten eggs” of a paper mill, the cost of retrofitting these old mills has been prohibitive...cheaper to build a new mill with all the bells and scrubbers than to revamp an old one.

[sam_paine]

“whiners”

Exactly. #11

[andyandval]

the production of cheaper paper has been shifted to other countries such as China, Chile, Korea and Malaysia, where production costs are much lower

Gee, I wonder why production costs are much lower.

I work in a paper mill in upstate New York and it's astonishing that we are still in business at all given the regulatory burdens we have to comply with.

I've always been optimistic about...well...everything.

But I'm now worried that we might not make it...

[muawiyah]

You're right on the target. About 20 years ago I noticed that there was a "beat" in the average rate of mail volume growth. Just about every 2.7 years you'd get a small jump in volume that couldn't be accounted for with any other reason than "cheaper paper".

In discussing this with a postal economist he mentioned that he'd just read a paper about new paper mills. It seems they are really expensive (billions) and a new one is opened up for business just about every 2.7 years.

He noted that the startups occured irrespective of current economic conditions. After all, paper is readily stored for better times if need be.

The "beat" in mail volume would logically be a result in the relative drop in paper costs the opening of a new, more advanced major paper mill brings with it.

These smaller, older design mills in Wisconsin are doomed by externalities occuring in the Russian and Siberian boreal forests ~ new, modern, highly efficient paper mills. Still only one new one every 2.7 years (or thereabouts), but definitely requiring less personnel.

You might not have noticed it but Russian paper quality has improved tremendously so that now you almost can't tell it without reading the label on the roll.

[LonePalm]

I wish I could teach a simple fact to everyone, but especially to high schoolers.

You don't get paid what you are worth, you get paid what the JOB is worth. If you aren't worth what the job pays, you won't have that job very long. If you are worth more, you will be able to get a better job.

This especially applies to the self-employed.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[muawiyah]

I think we lost the heavy craft industry ages ago when the Russians finally figured out how to sell cardboard (that gray/white stuff of theirs).

But do the Chinese cut trees and make pulp or do they just buy Russian paper to make cardboard for shipping?

I'm fairly well aware of the higher quality papers produced in SE Asia and that's gotta' hurt people here Fur Shur.

[wbill]

Saw this all of the time in Maine. What’s worse is that it’s hard to convince a 16-17 year old in HS that skipping college and gong to work for 40 grand a year at the mill...is a BAD idea.

[george76]

The government piles on tons of unfunded mandates onto businesses.

Many of the lawyers who have taken over political positions have no real world businesses experience, thus make stupid decisions. ( Being polite )

Many of the corrupt communists who have taken over political positions want to destroy capitalism. Government unions will speed up this destruction.

[dfwgator]

What I would also tell high schoolers is to only expect to work for somebody else until you’re 40. They’d better start now planning for how they can have their own business by then, because once you hit 40, and you’re let go, if you don’t have those skills by then, it’s really going to be tough.