Downtime, layoffs for workers

by Staff Pioneer Times
16 years ago

By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
    NEW LIMERICK — Temporarily laying off local workers and shutting down the mill for three weeks is helping Louisiana Pacific cope with the current weak housing market that has strained all sectors of the American economy. Saying “anyone connected to the housing industry is going through some tough times right now,” Mary Cohn, spokesperson for the mega building-materials company, explained efforts to deal with the grim economic environment by managing staffing and production.
     “We had to put 39 people on temporary layoffs with an indefinite call back time. We hope to be up as soon as possible. But, we don’t know when that would be.” Cohn said 114 workers are being retained in the local workforce here.  Of the 114, 84 are hourly employees and 30 are salaried. Additionally, the mill will be shut down for the three weeks between December 14 and January 5. She said depending on market conditions, the hope is to call back workers as soon as possible.
Other displaced workers
    In Houlton, BurrellsLuce, the country’s largest media monitoring service, notified 10 workers that their positions will be moving to the company’s Presque Isle office. That’s because the work “has become a technology intensive process,” according to Gail Nelson, senior vice president of marketing. She added that the infrastructure in Presque Isle is better equipped to handle the work of readers and editors who monitor digital versions of print publications for key words before passing press clippings on to clients.
    She said she did not know if any of the workers would be able to keep their jobs by working in Presque Isle. This follows other layoffs at the company earlier in the year. Nelson said she is unaware of future layoffs or any possible shutdown of Burrell’s North Street location. She said Jim Skobo, a senior vice president, notified workers of the decision December 11 during a visit to the company’s Houlton branch and added that the displaced workers will be getting severance packages.