Catherwood LibraryILR School

Employees at a Woodland Pulp, pulp mill in Northern Maine have been on strike for over five weeks. Workers are represented by three different unions, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union, the Service Employees International Union, and the Millwrights union. The unions have reached a tentative agreement with the mill, and strike action will end and employees will return to work. Workers were seeking increased wages and the new contract will raise wages by 11.6% over a three-year period. The main factor that caused workers to strike was job classifications, and workers state that mill management recently changed how jobs were classified, and placed millwright, pipefitter, machinist, and auto mechanic positions under a general mechanic classification, and measures in the contract will change how jobs are classified and will allow workers to easily move into different tiers. The contract will also remove the tiered vacation system and will provide all employees with five weeks maximum of vacation time.