RUMFORD, Maine (From news reports) - ND Paper in Rumford announced Thursday that it is making some "key operational changes" at the mill, due to what it calls "challenging market conditions."
In a written statement provided to the media, the company said: "In Rumford, we are reallocating our production capacity to match our customer demand across our manufacturing platform. This change will result in market-related downtime for one of our machines. Approximately 100 employees will be impacted by this decision."
According to United Steel Workers Local 900 union Facebook page, a number of employees at the ND Paper Rumford Mill operation were laid off Thursday. It's unclear how many were laid off, but the figure of 34 has been repeated in various posts. In its message to union members, the union states it will be setting up for Rapid Response at the union hall on the next few Thursdays.
In a follow-up email from ND Paper's corporate communications office regarding the number of employees that have been laid off, or will be laid off in total, the company stated: "We are going to follow the terms of the labor contract."
The changes are centered on the conversion of the R15 paper machine back to bleached grades of linerboard and pulp. An employee at the mill posted what he said was a text he received from a supervisor.
It reads, in part: "R12 will be shutdown indefinitely on Monday, R9 idled during lack of fiber. 17 salary employees have been cut, 69 hourly employees will be affected with the associated equipment shutting down for the machines. The mill is not profitable in current state due to declining market conditions and sales price on brown paper."
In December 2023, Gov. Janet Mills announced an award of $1,000,000 from the final round of the Forest Recovery Initiative of her Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan to ND Paper for R15 packaging paper machine enhancement.
ND Paper issued the following comment regarding the award from the governor's office: "We made several key improvements to R15 last fall, and the machine will continue to operate moving forward."
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