Our union standing committee met with Evergreen company officials and they broke the bad news to us. Evergreen will no longer be purchasing wood chips to process into pulp and so there will be a mothballing of the mill until the pulp market picks up. This is the first time in the history of the plant that there has been a complete stoppage of buying of wood chips that I can remember. And I have been there nearly 30 years. Looking through the seniority list, I am still not even in the top 40 seniority wise. So our workforce has been pretty stable through the last 4 decades.
It is sad and hard hitting seeing how these economic times have come to affect Humboldt County workers. By us closing, truck drivers bringing in chips will be laid off. Container drivers will not be coming from Oakland. Chemical drivers will not show up. It will ripple through our local economy. Don’t know what else to say. Bummer.
4 hours ago
16 comments:
terrible news. the regulatory climate is crushing business in CA.
The Comet/UFO was a sign.
I'm sorry to hear about this, Richard. Let's hope that demand picks up again and you're all back at work soon.
Will the baykeepers(2nd comming) Pete Nichols give you a well paying job? Hell yes,they always need bodies to dump red dye in the bay,produce phony dioxin laced mud samples or terrorize good neighbors like woody Murphy.
I'm sorry to hear about this. As you note, Richard, it is not only terrible news for your family and other Evergreen worker families, but for many other families who will be impacted. It isn't good news for our whole community when quality jobs are lost -- even if only temporarily.
Does the union provide any support if this closure is protracted?
What are you going to do?
If the anonymous commenter here is one and the same, you're a jerk. and if its more than one, you're all jerks. The workers will have unemployment and likely other union benefits for the immediate future. The plant might also be reopened relatively soon. In the meantime, there are some skilled workers who could apply themselves to needed work in the community, if some matchmaking can be done.
"the regulatory climate is crushing business in CA."
Dumkopf. It's the free market that is causing the problem and American workers who are providing the ultimate solution.
Richard, this is bad news. Maybe it will be a new direction for you. With a Democratic administration looking for new talent at the federal level, maybe you can find a job with the Department of Labor.
Sorry to hear your job has went away, but now I can take a big breath of fresh air. Better start that supervisorial campaign Richard. Looks like you're going to need the money.
"...truck drivers bringing in chips will be laid off.".
Funny how we never hear anything about truck drivers being laid off when we hear how many trucks will be taken off the road if we just had a functioning rail line.
7:39 it is you who is the dummkopf. care to have a discussion about the amount of resources allocated for compliance that are wasted? Here's one to think about: Workers' Compensation and Health Insurance.
I'd agree that worker's comp and health insurance are inefficient. But are you proposing that the solution is to not protect injured workers from being impoverished and to not have medical care?
That's the deal Leland Stanford gave the Chinese workers who built his transcontinental railroad. You find that acceptable?
what we find unacceptable is obamanations like you and the rest of the heraldonuts. don't need no stink'n jobs round here.
Its a difficult time for the employees and all you can think to do is spew you hate and be divisive.
As a matter of fact, the plant closing has almost nothing to do with local conditions, just like the company said. It's due to unregulated financial transactions that "free market" ideologues promoted.
We've had a boom/bust cycle due to the greed of the folks who say immediate economic growth is all that matters, don't worry about sustainablity.
And now that there's hardship, anons like you just want to run your immature vendettas that do nothing to bring stability and everything to create divisiveness.
I'd agree that worker's comp and health insurance are inefficient. But are you proposing that the solution is to not protect injured workers from being impoverished and to not have medical care?
That's the deal Leland Stanford gave the Chinese workers who built his transcontinental railroad. You find that acceptable?
I hesitate to respond to somebody who takes my statement about wasting resources and suggests I am proposing to do away with health benefits, but here goes: We are paying for duplicate services. Health Insurance and workers' comp are essentially the same thing, except it has a death benefit and disability benefit, which also duplicates SDI. Depending on what type of job you have, many of the workers' comp rates top the best health insurance you can buy, even if you threw in a long-term disability policy and life insurance policy too. If you have employees you have to have workers' comp, there is no option for people to waive comp in exchange for other benefits equal to or better than comp so companies end up paying for mandatory health insurance via worker's comp that only is good for injury or illness incurred on the payroll. Most employees rarely or never use it and many companies are now passing up or passing on costs for health insurance, a benefit that most people would use. Why is this? Because that's how the insurance companies want it. This is the regulatory climate I am talking about.
How is "not a native" not anonymous?
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