Lincoln mill furloughs 200 after boiler explosion
Lincoln Paper and Tissue LLC will furlough 200 workers, or nearly half of its work force, in response to a boiler explosion that hampered the company’s ability to fill paper orders last month.
The Bangor Daily News reported that CEO Keith Van Scotter said Wednesday the furloughs are not permanent, but it is not known when the workers may be called back. The company’s three tissue-paper machines will continue to operate at full capacity during the furloughs.
The paper reported it was unclear if a federal law requiring 60-day notice for plant closings also covered mass layoffs, but union representative Duane Lugdon told the paper it’s likely the mill would seek a waiver from the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which is allowed for catastrophic events like the boiler explosion.
Van Scotter declined to say when the furloughs would begin and declined to comment on whether the decision was influenced by a $5 million fine federal regulators are seeking in court on charges that the mill attempted to manipulate an ISO-New England program that pays energy consumers for backing down electricity consumption at times of high demand.
Gov. Paul LePage mentioned the fine as a hardship for the mill in a statement Wednesday about the layoffs.
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments