Logging feud escalates over foreign hires
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Maine’s North Woods, usually associated with the deep quiet of remote wilderness, is the site these days of a loud dust-up between local loggers and their Canadian counterparts.
After hearing reports of questionable practices, officials from the Maine Department of Labor visited northern Maine in June for a loggers’ forum, and made more visits in July. While there, state workers say they heard a fusillade of complaints from Maine loggers claiming they were routinely being overlooked for local wood-cutting jobs that were being filled by Canadians.
The controversy stems from whether logging companies have violated federal and state laws designed to ensure jobs go to Maine residents before they’re handed to Canadians or other foreigners. Specifically, companies seeking to hire foreign help are required to apply for H2-A visas from the federal government. Companies can only be granted the waivers if they prove they cannot find qualified local workers.
After the logging forums, Maine Department of Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman described the hiring problems as “systemic” and “industry-wide” in a letter she wrote July 16 to federal regulators. “The offending practices appear to be numerous,” she wrote, and described how some companies at times posted jobs at lower pay rates than what they eventually paid to Canadian workers and also did not include a physical U.S. address or local telephone number, which is a federal violation. Communication barriers, too, such as Canadian employers speaking French rapidly to Maine applicants, has also led to job rejections, according to Sen. Troy Jackson, who is a logger and Democratic state senator from Allagash.
The visits to the woods by Maine labor officials have already led to one lawsuit, filed by the Maine Attorney General’s office July 23 in Aroostook County Superior Court, against a small family-owned logging company called A.D. Logging Inc. This Canadian company, which has an address at 286 West Maine St. in Fort Kent (also the address for its accounting firm Prudential Financial), allegedly violated a 4-year-old state law demanding it have proof of equipment ownership. The law is meant to prevent a company from giving preference to foreign contractors who bring their own equipment.
Fortman’s letter, too, has resulted in the U.S. Department of Labor launching an audit into 37 logging companies in Maine that have applied to hire foreign workers. These companies had until Aug. 20 to respond with the requested information, according to information supplied by the federal labor department.
Tensions between Canadian and American loggers in the North Woods are not new, but they have mostly been kept in check by a tight-knit community that does not tolerate much strife. “People were concerned about being either blacklisted or felt uncomfortable coming forward,” Fortman says. “They live in small communities, and didn’t want to file complaints against people who were their friends or neighbors.”
Yet the battered economy, depressed paper and wood markets, and the many unemployed loggers idling in Aroostook County have sharpened the situation. And the voices of discontent got loud enough to grab the governor’s attention. Gov. John Baldacci, who has been a major catalyst in the state investigation, in early July formed a task force to look into reports of possible hiring violations by companies employing Canadian loggers.
“The governor thinks that if there is even one Maine person who has qualifications for these jobs, they should have a fair shot at getting the job,” Fortman says. In July, 100 Maine loggers filed for unemployment, according to Fortman. Meanwhile, 37 logging companies submitted 155 applications for H2-A waivers seeking to fill 477 jobs, she says.
Yet, the current economic crisis is complicating the issue. It is unclear how many logging jobs there actually are in the Maine woods, and who is filling them.
Joel Swanton, the northeastern region manager for the Forest Resources Association, says the poor economy is leading to high levels of unemployment — not necessarily illegal hiring practices. “The forest products economy is in the worst shape probably in 40 years,” he says. “There are many workers out of jobs right now. Markets for paper and lumber are very poor, so there isn’t enough consumption of wood to employ all the loggers out there.”
He also says that companies run into trouble convincing Maine people to work in far-off sites. “It’s harder to attract Mainers to go those long distances or stay in the woods for the week when they prefer to be with their families in the evening,” he says.
But Sen. Jackson dismisses these suggestions. “I can leave my house here and drive 40 miles and find many Canadians working,” he says. “There are Canadians working here and Mainers who aren’t.”
Part of the problem, Jackson explains, is that Canadians will accept a lower wage because American dollars stretch further in the Canadian economy. Plus, he says, Canadians have subsidized health care, deleting a cost burden that most Maine loggers have to bear themselves.
“Logging has not been good for a while, but every time you try to argue for a higher wage, you have in mind you can be replaced by a bond [the term for foreign workers] if you’re not willing to take the wage,” Jackson says. “It’s not so much I want the Canadians out of here but I want those who are willing to work for less [gone] so I can at least work for a wage that’s adequate.”
While he says he’s pleased with the governor’s spotlight on the issue, he’s hoping the federal government gives state officials more oversight of foreign labor hiring practices. “We have no ability to make any recommendations, and the feds are just rubberstamping every [H2-A] application,” he says.
Meanwhile, Maine officials say they are coordinating efforts between the state agencies involved in enforcing logging laws, such as the Department of Conservation, Maine State Police, border patrol and the Department of Labor.
“The governor wants all the state agencies to be talking to each other and identify if there are things we could do differently,” Fortman says, like enhancing communication when a possible violation is observed. “If there are jobs in the Maine woods, we want to make sure Mainers get a chance at those jobs.”
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