Workers laid off from the Georgia-Pacific paper mill in Camas will be eligible to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance, according to a ruling released by the U.S. Department of Labor in January.
The mill went through several rounds of layoffs last year after Georgia-Pacific, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, announced that it would shut down its communications paper division due to dropping demand for sheet paper used in printers and photocopiers.
The layoffs impacted as many as 300 employees — more than half of the mill’s workforce.
The ruling makes the workers laid off during the transition eligible for retraining in new trades or job fields, and gives them access to other benefits such as employment management services, relocation allowances and income support.
Gregory Pallesen, president of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, filed an initial request for Trade Adjustment Assistance on March 8, 2018, on behalf of the mill workers and on-site contractors who were scheduled to be impacted when the layoffs began in May 2018.
Trade Adjustment Assistance is intended to assist workers who have been laid off due to circumstances relating to foreign trade and competition, such as production being outsourced to a foreign country or an increase in imports from a foreign country.
Pallesen argued that the closure of the communications paper division at the Camas mill stemmed from increased competition in the market due to imports from China, Indonesia and Canada.
On Aug. 10, the Department of Labor rejected Pallesen’s petition on the grounds that production of communications paper had not shifted to a foreign country and imports had not directly affected the Camas mill.
Pallesen filed an appeal on Aug. 16, arguing that the problem was with the supply — competition from foreign companies had increased the demand for the raw materials needed to make paper.
The department accepted the argument and overturned its previous ruling. The updated decision was issued on Jan. 22, and applies to Camas mill workers who were laid off or will be laid off between March 8, 2017, and Jan. 22, 2021.
