Seeks to restore fair competition, job security for 6,000 paper workers
Contact: Gary Hubbard, 202-778-4384, 202-256-8125, ghubbard@usw.org
Washington, DC (Sept. 23, 2009) – Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW) confirmed trade case petitions were jointly filed with three domestic companies today for antidumping and anti-subsidy duties against Chinese and Indonesian imports of certain types of coated paper that have eliminated thousands of domestic jobs.
“America’s working families see their jobs and future threatened by the predatory practices and unfair trade policies of China and Indonesia,” he said. “Neither the companies nor the union will tolerate being obliterated without asking our government to investigate and enforce the rules of fair trade.”
The companies involved are NewPage Corp., Miamisburg, OH; Appleton Coated LLC, Kimberly, WI; and Sappi Fine Paper North America, Boston, MA. The USW represents about 6,000 production workers at paper mills operated by all three companies in nine states.
According to the trade case filing, thousands of jobs have been cut in the past five years as imports from China and Indonesia flooded into the U.S. market. The petitions estimate an increase of 40 percent from total imports of coated paper have flooded into the U.S. market -- jumping from 131,687 tons in the first six months of 2008 to 185,422 tons in the first six months of 2009. Imports from the two countries together account for nearly 30 percent of the domestic market.
Jon Geenen, USW International Vice President who handles the union’s paper industry, says, “We have watched as paper machines at each of the companies shutdown from surging China and Indonesian imports. In the past year we’ve suffered closure of entire paper mills that sustained communities employing hundreds in Muskegon, MI and Kimberly, WI. Our nation’s paper workers and their families deserve better.”
The petitions were filed at the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington, DC. The paper products covered by the petitions include coated paper used in high-quality writing, printing, and other applications. The cases are expected to take abut a year to complete, with an ITC preliminary determination by mid-November.
The USW is North America’s largest industrial union, representing 850,000 workers employed workers in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and energy. About 130,000 workers are represented by the USW in the paper and forestry products industry, a loss of more than 60,000 jobs since 2002. For more information: www.usw.org/.
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