LEWISTON — The Western Maine Central Labor Council honored Local 14 steelworker retirees Saturday with the Workers’ Solidarity Award at the 17th Workers’ Memorial Day Dinner.

The event, held at Marco’s Ristorante Italiano at 12 Mollison Way in Lewiston, serves as the council’s recognition of workers who have died due to the nature of their job or workplace and commitment to the wellbeing of current and future laborers.

Local 14 was Jay’s arm of the United Paperworkers International Union and represented workers through a series of ownership changes of the local mill. The Pixelle Androscoggin Mill closed earlier this year.

The union was honored for “keeping solidarity alive in Jay” throughout a difficult strike, decertification, closures and mass retirement, labor council President Linda Deane said ahead of the event. Among the Local 14 retirees in attendance: Mike Shank, Francis Gagnon, Dennis Couture, Gary McGrane and Deane.

“It’s very nice and it’s an honor and a privilege to receive the award for all the other Local 14 members — all our brothers and sisters, especially from the strike era,” Shank said.

For 17 months, between 1987 and 1988, Local 14 went on strike over a contract cutting nearly 500 jobs, Sunday overtime and the Christmas holiday. While strikers were eventually forced to concede to mill ownership, which was International Paper Co. at the time, the generation of mill workers was described by various attendees as having paved the way for future laborers.

But the future turned bleak, with a majority of machines shutting down permanently ahead of the mill’s March 8 closure. The mill employed about 1,200 when the strike came, and nearly 1,500 in its heyday. It closed with about 230 workers, the group said.

“We don’t really have any dealings with it. We’re on the outside looking in and waiting to see what happens,” Gagnon said. “Hopefully, something will come in there. The sad part is that mill was only 58 years old. Most paper mills go for 100 years. It’s a sad thing.”

“It’s unfortunate they didn’t see the value in a workforce dedicated to the work it was doing, and, because of that, it’s hurt everyone in the communities,” McGrane said. “I’m just so appreciative that we, as a local, continue to stay together, even though the company has left the room, so to speak.”

Rebecca Reindel, director of occupational safety and health for the AFL-CIO, was Saturday’s keynote speaker. She said it was significant that the labor community turned out for Local 14 and the Western Maine Central Labor Council’s awardees.

Don Berry received the Bruce D. Roy Award, and Maine Speaker of the House Rachel Talbot Ross was given the Frances Perkins Award. Berry is a former president of the council and AFL-CIO, and a longtime training director for Local 567 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

“I think it’s very powerful that the labor community has come out for these folks tonight,” Reindel said. “It’s very meaningful to be here, not only to remember people, but to talk about what we’re going into in the future.”

Others who attended the gathering included Commissioner Laura Fortman of the Maine Department of Labor; state Rep. Margaret Craven, D-Lewiston; state Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Androscoggin; Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline; and Bev Uhlenhake, chair of the Maine Democratic Party.

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