RUMFORD – Maine’s senators are asking for federal job training for up to 30 MeadWestvaco forestry employees who were laid off last fall.
The paper company’s foresters were let go late last year after MeadWestvaco sold off virtually all of its half-million acres in the state. At that time, some of the foresters took jobs with the land’s new management firm, according to MeadWestvaco spokesman Steve Hudson.
A petition for retraining of the former MeadWestvaco employees was not submitted to the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance program by the company. Hudson said the mill had petitioned for the program twice in the past for other laid-off employees.
However, at least two former paper mill foresters asked the Career Center in Rumford to file a petition on their behalf in February, said Kathy Dostie, assistance program coordinator for the Maine Department of Labor.
Whether they or any other forester laid off last year will be eligible for retraining benefits will not be decided until April, said Dostie.
The Trade Adjustment Assistance program provides aid to workers who lose their jobs or whose hours and wages are reduced as a result of increased imports.
The program aims to train dislocated workers for suitable employment at an equal or higher skill level than what they had lost.
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