Contact: John Shinn, (716) 565-1720, jshinn@usw.org
(AUGUSTA, Maine, August 21) — The United Steelworkers (USW) released the following statement today from USW District 4 Director John Shinn in response to Republican attacks on U.S. Congressman Mike Michaud’s efforts in 2002 to protect jobs at Great Northern Paper in East Millinocket, Maine.
“The latest Republican attack on gubernatorial candidate and Congressman Mike Michaud is so full of lies and distortions that it smacks of desperation. The mailer that Republicans sent to voters this week criticized a bipartisan 2002 bill that was designed to prevent the shutdown of the Great Northern Paper mill so the owner could sell energy instead of employing the mill’s workers. That bill passed with strong support from both parties as well as Great Northern workers, the town and state executives.
“A proud paper worker himself, Mike Michaud is well aware of the importance of good manufacturing jobs, and he has always provided the strongest support for any efforts to preserve or develop jobs in that industry, and in all manufacturing sectors. Their claims to the contrary simply prove that his opponents are out of ideas and grasping at straws.
“The fact that these lies are coming from the people who led Maine to rank dead-last in the U.S. in job creation in 2012, and 44th in 2013, according to Gallup, makes them all the more laughable.”
“The fact is that Mike Michaud has spent every moment of his public life fighting for job creation. He has led the way on Buy American legislation and the Bring Jobs Home Act, he has pushed for tax credits to help small businesses, he has fought hard to enforce fair trade rules, and he has sponsored legislation to invest in our crumbling highways, bridges and other infrastructure. All of these measures would create jobs and help working families.
“The people of Maine are smart enough to know that Mike Michaud has always been on their side, and that he will fight for good jobs and a better life for them every step of the way as their next governor.”
USW District 4 represents tens of thousands of union members in Maine, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Puerto Rico. The USW is the largest industrial union in North America, representing workers in a range of industries including metals, mining, rubber, paper and forestry, oil refining, health care, security, hotels, and municipal governments and agencies.
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