PORT ANGELES — The Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers is asking the McKinley Paper Co. for clarity and transparency in the wake of the layoffs.
Josh Estes, spokesperson for the general Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers (AWPPW), said there are three issues the union wants clarity on: what market conditions resulted in the mill’s temporary closure, whether the company will pay severance and extended medical benefits to affected employees and what conditions would trigger a restart or a permanent closure.
“This lack of transparency not only threatens the livelihood of these workers, but also endangers the well-being of families dependent on the mill, particularly those with ongoing medical needs,” an AWPPW press release stated.
Phone calls to McKinley representatives were not returned Thursday.
Lack of communication
State Rep. Mike Chapman, D-Port Angeles, said that, from the beginning, McKinley hasn’t been very communicative about its situation.
“The closure kind of came out of the blue,” Chapman said. “It would have been nice to have heard what their concerns were before they laid off people.”
State Sen. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Lake Sutherland, said, “to announce that they’re closing, without asking the (state) delegation for help to keep them open, not reaching out to anybody, including the union, is frustrating and disappointing.”
If McKinley had reached out to the state Department of Commerce (DOC), Van De Wege said the department would have jumped to help them with tax breaks and other solutions.
“One of their main objectives is to keep rural industrial sites like that open,” Van De Wege said.
However, Van De Wege said he was “aware of no communication with the Department of Commerce that they were shutting down.”
Before McKinley’s closure, Van De Wege and Chapman said the state took several steps to help it economically.
The Legislature passed two significant tax breaks for the mill, gave it preferential power and water rates, input pulp and paper mill exemptions into the Climate Commitment Act, helped fund a biomass generator for the mill and more.
“The Legislature has done anything and everything possible to continue to support our paper mill infrastructure in this state,” Chapman said.
However, these state incentives did not appear to be enough to keep the mill operating.
After announcing its temporary closure, Estes said McKinley has only vaguely referred to “market conditions” as the reason for its shutdown.
“We need some understanding of what ‘market conditions’ means,” Estes said.
If the union understands what is going on with the mill — if it’s facing economic challenges, capital needs or other concerns — Estes said it can help find solutions.
Local and state officials also want to help the mill.
Clallam County Administrator Todd Mielke said there is a coalition of community leaders “who have been very interested in trying to do everything possible to either keep their door open or to get them to reopen as soon as possible.”
McKinley has pointed to a number of things as its reason for unprofitablity, Mielke said, including inefficiency in the cogeneration plant, old machinery and expensive water main repairs.
For each of those problems, community leaders have presented potential solutions, including looking for state and federal resources, but Mielke said “it’s like a moving goalpost.”
“We’re saying we’re prepared as a community to help wherever we can, every time they say there’s an issue and we talk about resolving it, they come back and say, ‘That’s not enough for us to reopen,’” Mielke said.
“I’d like to hear specifically what we could do to help them reopen,” Chapman said.
Medical benefits
The union also wants to know if laid-off workers will get severance pay and three months of extended medical benefits.
Some of the confusion is because McKinley is calling the closure temporary, not permanent.
Meilke said McKinley’s label “begs the question of, temporary closure until when?”
“If they’re being forthright in saying this is a temporary closure, then they should be able to define with a rather explicit level of detail what it would take for them to reopen,” Mielke said. “That’s the part where we’re looking for clarity.”
Because McKinley considers the shutdown a temporary closure, Mielke said “they get out of having to pay severance or providing healthcare.”
If it was a permanent shutdown, the organization would be responsible under a collective bargaining agreement to provide those benefits, Estes said.
The union has asked McKinley if it plans to honor those agreements. The company’s response, Estes said, was that “we fully intend to follow the law and contract around the section for closure.”
However, the representatives then said, “this isn’t a closure” because 11 people will still be employed.
When the union tried to get clarity, Estes said the representatives “punted around it.”
“This could mean that, on Aug. 31, 2024, our members, many of whom have young children, elderly family members and ongoing medical treatments, will lose their employer-paid health coverage without any prior notification,” the press release stated.
Estes described one employee who has a newborn child, a wife being treated for cancer and significant medical issues of his own with surgeries planned in September. Because the company hasn’t provided any clarity about medical benefits, the employee and many others have been left in limbo.
“We’ve got real families with real needs that are just being thrown into the wind, all because McKinley wants to cite ‘market conditions’ and do this facade around a temporary permanent closure,” Estes said.
Port Angeles Mayor Kate Dexter said McKinley hasn’t been giving clear answers regarding what its employees can expect.
“It’s really hard [for employees] to sit in this place of limbo, and we need for them to do a better job communicating with the union what their plans are,” Dexter said.
Estes said that not only has the company danced around the issue of health coverage, it also hasn’t offered any transition help to employees.
Many companies which face mass layoffs or closures will fund one or two individuals becoming peer support workers to help their colleagues navigate the transition, Estes said. That is not a step McKinley is taking, he said.
“McKinley has not offered any support. They have not offered any clarification,” he said.
Estes said he hopes McKinley doesn’t “leave the community and these employees in limbo forever.”
Community response
While the mill doesn’t appear to be helping its employees with the transition, Estes said other organizations have stepped in.
“There are tangible efforts being made by different partners to support the community and support these workers,” Estes said.
The Clallam Economic Development Council (EDC) is tackling this issue through two long-term tracks, Executive Director Colleen McAleer said.
First, it is working to find ways the state or federal government could invest in infrastructure that would insulate McKinley from the highs and lows of the market.
Second, it is looking into ways to invest resources to produce high-wage jobs in the community.
The Olympic Workforce Development Council (OWDC) is helping through its rapid response program, which connects individuals with unemployment insurance, career counseling job search assistance, workforce development programs, retraining programs, continuing education and more.
Alissa Durkin, rapid response coordinator for OWDC, said it also brings in the Washington Health Benefit Exchange to help people enroll in a Washington health plan or Washington Apple Health.
The city of Port Angeles is offering utility assistance to individuals affected by the McKinley layoffs, as well as participating in conversations regarding what other resources and support could be offered.
“Utilities are the primary way we have to offer support,” Dexter said. “We certainly encourage others in the community to provide support where possible.”
Clallam County has joined the coalition that is trying to secure one-time state and federal funding to update the facility and make it profitable, and it is alerting McKinley’s human resources department of any job openings the county has.
Despite the steps that local governments and organizations have taken to help the employees, Estes said “it’s never enough. Without the support of the mill, it makes it very difficult to help these folks transition.”
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
