Union representatives for the Rumford mill testify in Washington in favor of tariff

On September 16, 2010, union representatives spoke on behalf of Rumford paper mill workers at a hearing in Washington, D.C. The hearing was before the International Trade Commission. Maine’s congressional delegation also testified. The union representatives and Maine’s congressional delegation testified in favor of a tariff the U.S. has placed against Chinese and Indonesian coated paper. They maintain that China and Indonesia have unfairly subsidized their coated paper companies to the detriment of U.S. coated paper companies–and their employees. Last year the Rumford mill, run by New Page Corp., laid off 100 employees. The union representatives cited the tariff as a reason why the Rumford mill called these laid off employees back to work earlier this year.