7
an
Maine Mills
Textiles Go Abroad to
EWISTON, Me.
Import Labor
Mexican-American, Dominican ortuguese mill hands are being recruited for employ- ment in cotton and woolen mills in this city with little fanfare.
Except for protests from antipoverty agencies there has been little or no opposition to the importation of mill workers at Bates Manufacturing Co. or the W. S. Libbey Co., a blanket manufacturer,
! In fact importing of workers has been going on for some time and was never publicized until the new weekly publication Maine Times ran a two-part series on the situa- tion.
As a result Bates officials are "up tight," refusing to comment beyond a three-page statoment it issued in de- fense of its practice.
Libbey officials, on the other hand, are frank to dis- cuss the situation and take pride in their training program. Officials of the Textile Workers Union of America,
which represents Bates workers, discuss labor importation guardedly.
H. L. Gosselin, to the president at Bates, and in charge of the Lewiston Mill, acknowledged that Bates went on a recruiting program in Texas and New Mexico last September "with the full knowledge and cooperation of the Maine Employment Security Commission" because the mill wanted "to safeguard our business and the jobs of our remaining employes."
Gosselin said workers were needed to meet urgent production requirements and delivery failures "would have seriously jeopardized our operation, the job security of our 3,500 employes and an $18 million payroll in Maine."
While the Bates spokesman did not reveal the num- ber of Mexican-Americans brought to this city, sources say it was about 100.
He said presently there are eight on the Bates payroll. To his knowledge, he added another eight who either quit or were discharged remain in the community.
He said Bates, on its own volition, paid expenses for the return of 23 individuals to the Texas area.
In January the company ended this recruitment pro- gram because it proved unsuccessful, he said.
Gosselin acknowledged that the mill presently em- ploys "some Dominicans who applied for jobs here.”.
He said they are excellent workers and the company is happy with their work performance.
Alexander Holman, superintendent of W. S. Libbey Co. was more than willing to discuss the labor import situation.
His milt employs between 40 and 50 Dominicans at present and also six Portuguese, Total em- ployment runs between 250 and 275.
He said the Dominicans and Portuguese are predominantly in production while some are learn- ing to be weavers, spinners, dyers and finishing tenders in the card
room.
He said the Portuguese are quicker at learning than the Dominicans although the Domin- icans are "hard workers.”
Since the language barrier is the major hurdle in training, the company supplies English records and pays a bonus of $5 for each successfully completed lesson.
Holman said that he heard that mills in Massacchusetts and Phode Island had been import- ing Dominicans and Portugese,
He said he also employed Bra- zilians but they learned the trade and went on to better paying
areas.
1
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Holman said the alien workers | receive the same rate of pay as negotiated by the Lewiston In- Association, dependent Textile
the independent union which rep- resents the other employes. The minimum rate is $1.81 with a mill average of $2.35 an hour, he said.
Denis Blais, manager of the TWUA joint board, said the union was not aware of the situ- ation at Bates for some time.
Blais said that he first became that Spanish-speaking aware workers were employed at Bates when a union member told him a new worker was on the job and when the unionist attempted to recruit him into the union the new worker couldn't speak Eng- lish.
Since Bates did not then have a union shop agreement, there was nothing the union could do about the new employes. Under the terms of the agreement ne- gotiated in April, there is a union shop clause and all new employes are required to join the union,
Blais said there is very little resentment against the Spanish speaking workers. because. it means that workers with seni- ority have been assigned to bet- ter shifts and many were pro- moted to better paying jobs.
The big problem, as far as the union is concerned, Blais said, is a sociological one-bringing the Spanish speaking workers into Franco- the predominately American community.
John J. O'Toole, director of the Androscoggin County anti- poverty community action pro- gram, is incensed that neither Bates nor Libby contacted his assistance to organization for
work with the immigrants.
O'Toole said Bates and Libby had sought a certification from his agency that there was an insufficient labor pool but he re- jected their request, because, he said, "I don't want to bring them into this kind of bondage."
James C. Schoenthaler, chair- man of the Maine Employment has ex- Security Commission,
pressed grave concern over the importation of foreign labor into Lewiston.
"Bringing in unskilled low- paid help is a wage depressant," Schoenthaler said. "I've been very critical of this all along. If Lewiston-Auburn is to upgrade itself it must not allow these wage depressants to come in. There is labor available in Maine if we are willing to pay for it." Gosselin defended the Bates rates maintaining they were above the industry average and above what many other Maine industries are paying.
Under the recently negotiated - contract with the TWUA the average hourly rate is $2.30 with fringes equivalent to 40 cents an hour.
According to the Employment Security Commission's latest re- port, the hourly manufactu.ng rate in Lewiston is $2.30 com- pared with $2.53 statewide and $2.66 in Portland.
-MIKEY WIESENTHAL
210
Mr Magn
IN Selles H.K.
Mr. G.S. Whitehal
DARCY
www.s.contr
NEWS RECORD
25/7/69.