@@facebook=
@@
DAYTON — Appleton Papers will lay off 330 workers at its West Alex Bell Road plant as it agrees to take base paper from a Canadian supplier.
The local mill will become a thermal paper coating facility.
About 100 workers will remain at the plant, pending an agreement with Local 266 of the United Steelworkers, which represents local Appleton workers, the company said Thursday.
In a press release, Appleton said a 15-year agreement with Domtar Corp. would have the latter company supply Appleton with most of its uncoated base paper to make thermal, carbonless and other specialty paper products.
“Assuming the plan is finalized, approximately 100 employees would be retained (at West Carrollton) to continue to operate the thermal paper coating facility. Carbonless paper coating currently conducted at West Carrollton would be shifted to the company’s converting plant in Appleton, Wisc., and result in an increase of approximately 50 jobs at that facility,” Appleton said in its release.
Jim Allen, president of USW 266, described workers as “flabbergasted, heartbroken, taken by surprise. We were knocked down.”
Allen said he believed cuts would happen by mid-May. He said union and company representatives will meet Friday morning. Asked if negotiations might alter company plans, he said: “As far as I know, the decision is made.”
Bill Van Den Brandt, an Appleton spokesman, said he couldn’t comment on how union-company talks might change company plans.
“I think it’s possible,” he said. “That’s why we’re having the discussion.”
“We believe our proposal to discontinue papermaking operations at West Carrollton is a competitive necessity and not a reflection of the talent or commitment of our mill employees,” Mark Richards, Appleton chairman, president and chief executive, said in the statement. “Our employees have never wavered in their dedication to excellence and to serving our customers. What has changed is the economics of the industry in which we compete.”
The agreement with Domtar is valued at more than $3 billion over the life of the contract, Appleton said.
“Non-integrated” paper mills — mills that don’t produce pulp from logs or wood chips gathered on site — are “distinctly disadvantaged and no longer competitive,” the Appleton release added. The local mill must purchase pulp and recycle waste paper.
The idea that non-integrated mills are less efficient is not new. But Van Dan Brandt said the cost of pulp, driven by worldwide demand, is higher than ever.
Since 2005, 25 non-integrated mills in the U.S. have closed, included four in Ohio, Van Den Brandt said.
“It’s an economic decision,” he said.
The announcement is a dramatic shift from less than five years ago, when the Appleton, Wisc.-based papermaker invested $100 million into the 1030 W. Alex-Bell plant to expand production of thermal paper. The expansion added about 35 jobs to what was then a local work force of about 410 employees.
Thermal paper is used in receipts, labels, airline and lottery tickets and more.
Employee-owned Appleton acquired the local plant in 1984. The plant itself was built in the late 1940s.
The local paper industry has suffered in recent years. NewPage Corp., based in Miami Twp., sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year.
Mohawk Fine Papers and SMART Papers has closed facilities in Hamilton. Franklin Boxboard in Warren County closed in August 2011.
Mead Corp. — for decades one of the companies most associated with Dayton — merged with Westvaco in 2002. Headquarters operations moved to Richmond, Va. a few years later.
Today, MeadWestvaco has about 250 employees in Kettering, but the company said in November 2011 that it will shift its Kettering operations to ACCO Brands Corp. to create what the companies said will be the world’s largest school and office products company.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
About the Author
