RUMFORD – The three paper machines at NewPage Corp. came back up over the weekend, allowing the mill’s 850 employees to return to work.

Mill spokesman Tony Lyons said machines No. 10, No. 12, and No. 15, are on line and trials will begin this week on the pulp dryer, also known as No. 9.

Local 900 Union President Matt Bean said all workers were back on their schedules.

“It’s nice to have people back to work. We’re waiting to hear some good news for the future, but it’s almost a minute-by-minute situation,” he said. “But we really don’t know what’s going on.”

A routine maintenance shutdown began May 11. About 100 maintenance employees were on the job, while the remaining employees were laid off. Generally, when the mill conducts its annual maintenance, employees keep working.

However, this year has seen more than 100 permanent layoffs and several months of rolling temporary layoffs for employees who work on the paper machines because of the uncertain economy. Employees who work on No. 10 and No. 15 machines have been out of work for much of the past four weeks.

A planned shutdown of the plant for the last two weeks of June, which had been announced last month, may not happen.

“We’re assessing the status of orders right now,” Lyons said. “Anything is subject to change.”

NewPage Corp., based in Miamisburg, Ohio, reduced its paper production system-wide by 150,000 tons for the first quarter of 2009, then again for the second quarter of the year.

The local mill has experienced both permanent and temporary layoffs since last year.

NewPage also operates paper mills in Kentucky, Maryland, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Nova Scotia.