Paper Mill Employee Ownership Negotiations for PACE International Union
PAPER MILL CASE STUDY CATEGORIES:
Union Led: Reviewed potential worker ownership in cases of many paper company closures as US industry was consolidating. ESOP was not a financially viable fit because in this capital intensive industry, the ratio or capital cost to labor cost was too high.
In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s there was a major contraction in the US paper manufacturing capacity. Attorney Olson provided assistance and advice to PACE International Union concerning potential employee buyouts of Eastern Fine Papers, Shasta Paper, Cornell Globe, Sebewaing; I.P. Natchez, Ms., and Passadumkeag Sawmill. Paper mills proved to be too capital intensive to enable successful employee buyouts. However, in a number of cases, the active participation of the union in the purchase process, enabled the union to have some influence on getting a more favorable company as the successful buyer, and thus getting better union contracts than they would have from other buyers.
