[at-l] Millinocket Mill Banckrupt

[rickboudrie@xxxxxxxxxxx (rick boudrie)]

Not sure what these means for the Trail, but it does speak to the tough
times in some of the communities up North.
________________________

Great Northern files for bankrupty protection
By Associated Press, 1/9/2003 19:23

BANGOR, Maine (AP) Great Northern Paper Co., a once-proud industrial
behemoth whose work force has shrunk to 1,100 at mills in Millinocket and
East Millinocket, filed for bankruptcy protection on Thursday.

The Chapter 11 filing was made late in the afternoon in U.S. Bankruptcy
Court in Bangor, according to a court clerk. Motions are scheduled to be
heard Friday morning, the clerk said.

The company made no announcement of filing, and calls to corporate spokesma=
n
Brian Stetson were not returned.

The filing followed several days of rumors that started when a 10-day
shutdown was extended early this week.

Bruce Cox, president of Local 37 of the United Paperworkers International
Union in East Millinocket, said he and other union presidents were called t=
o
the mill early in the afternoon and informed of the Chapter 11 filing.

''Was it a surprise? Yes,'' Cox said. ''We were expecting something, but we
thought it was a potential sale or something like that not Chapter 11.''

Cox quoted company officials as saying they hoped to resume production
sometime next week if they can line up financing and get suppliers to
provide them with materials.

Great Northern was the world's largest paper mill when it was founded in
1900 along the Penobscot River in the heart of Maine's North Woods. In its
heyday, it had a work force approaching 5,000.

''The whole area is stunned that this proud company of 100-plus years and
under new ownership for 3=BD years has had to resort to a bankruptcy filing=
 to
survive,'' said Millinocket Town Manager Eugene Conlogue.

Conlogue said the mood around town was one of sadness, coupled with deep
concern. Two UPIU locals scheduled a meeting Friday to brief members on the
latest developments.

The East Millinocket mill produces telephone directory paper, and the
Millinocket mill produces paper used for advertising and elementary school
books.

Production on all four paper machines at the two mills came to what was
supposed to be a temporary halt during the holidays. Workers who returned t=
o
work on Monday were told that the shutdown was being extended.

Cox said there was a delay of several hours in meeting Thursday's payroll,
but union officials were told that pay had been deposited in workers'
accounts by afternoon.

In its bankruptcy filing, Great Northern listed several conditions it said
were imposed on the company by potential lenders. They included a 60-day
reprieve on payment of health insurance benefits for anyone who retired
after 1992; the elimination of 401k contributions and an exemption from
having to pay severance to some workers who may have to be laid off.

Great Northern, along with other paper companies, has had a rough year. A
weak economy, a slump in demand and competition from foreign paper imports
resulted in several paper machine shutdowns in 2002.

In July, GNP announced it was shutting down permanently two older paper
machines at its Millinocket mill, which resulted in the loss of 200 jobs.
One paper machine at the Millinocket mill has been down since Nov. 29,
affecting about 60 employees. Another paper machine at the East Millinocket
mill has been down since Dec. 16, affecting about 90 workers.

Great Northern isn't the only company in the paper industry facing tough
markets coupled with the weak economy. International Paper's Bucksport mill
also was shut down for 10 days.

A Canadian investment group, Inexcon Maine Inc. of Quebec, bought the mills
from Bowater Inc. for $250 million in 1999 and immediately sought a 10
percent wage cut and other concessions from the mills' unions.

The unions continued to push for an employee buyout, which never
materialized.

In addition to the two pulp and paper mills, the sale included GNP's massiv=
e
hydroelectric system on the West Branch of the Penobscot River and more tha=
n
400,000 acres of northern Maine timberland.








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