GROVETON, N.H. (AP) – Gov. John Lynch told mill workers the state will not forget them as they prepare for their mill to close.
Lynch visited the Wausau Paper mill Friday and spoke with dozens of employees who will lose their jobs at the end of the year.
“We will give personalized attention to every single one of the 303 workers,” Lynch said. “It’s not enough to get to 90 percent of them. We will not be satisfied with anything less.”
The governor said he will ask the federal Labor Department to speed up an application for assistance. Members of the congressional delegation also urging quick action for aid that will release benefits such as job training and health insurance coverage.
Within the next week, he said state agencies will identify every business within 50 miles of the town to find out what jobs are available or may become available to try to match workers with appropriate jobs.
The state also will work to find businesses that might want to move to the area.
Lynch said officials also are taking a longer range look at the region and what is needed to attract businesses, such as broadband access and expanding electric transmission lines.
The unionized mill workers learned this week that their severance packages, including salary and insurance, will range from four to 12 weeks following the Dec. 31 closing.
United Steelworkers Union building, local President Murray Rogers said the average age of the workers is 50. The average length of employment is 22 years, and of the 303 workers – 28 are from Vermont and the rest New Hampshire.
Union vice president Charlene Adair said her husband and son lost their jobs when Groveton Paperboard closed two years ago. Her husband got a job as a janitor at the school in town, and her son has gone on to earn his associate’s degree and is at work on his bachelor’s degree to become a teacher.
She said news that the mill is closing is devastating, but she knows there is hope, based on what happened with her husband and his former co-workers.
“A majority of the paperboard (workers) went on and found jobs and got their life back in order,” Adair said.
Both union officials had high praise for how the state has handled the situation, and said the workers are feeling much better after a meetings with the state’s Rapid Response team this week. The meetings were held around the clock so that all shifts got to sit down with the team, they said.
AP-ES-11-03-07 1201EDT
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