Trade deals, border issues irk former mill workers

Trucks travel through Washington County to get to New Brunswick, mucking up the roads. Power supplies are built in the county, but that doesn’t mean their electric bills are any cheaper. To top it off, the federal government has approved several trade deals that caused good local jobs to be sent overseas.

Thursday, Congressmen Tom Allen and Mike Michaud met with a group of laid-off mill workers from Domtar Mill in Baileyville. At Washington County Community College in Calais, Allen discussed his Senate campaign, assuring the group that he has opposed the trade deals from the beginning.

“The priorities down there (Washington) have been totally out of line, and the problems cover the whole state,” Allen told the group.

Throughout the meeting, problems resonating from the Canadian border kept coming up.

“If we can get a Democrat for president, Mike and I will make sure that he or she puts pressure on the Canadians,” Allen said.

Duane Lugdon from the United Steel Workers group spoke out against the Republican administration, commending Allen and Michaud for opposing national trade agreements.

“There is no question that foreign trade is killing us in this country,” Lugdon said. “They have sold our country. We need a political system that works for us.”

Bill Doten of Meddybemps was laid off from the paper mill that closed in July. Most of the workers are supporting John Edwards for president.

“We need someone who is going to turn this country around,” Doten said.

Looking at the Senate race, Doten said he is leaning toward Allen, although current Sen. Susan Collins has helped the area. Allen, however, would bring in fresh ideas.

“She’s done everything she said she’d do,” Doten said.

After the meeting, Allen and Michaud spoke at a lunch at the college with people from the community.

There Paul Thompson of Pembroke said he moved to Maine to get away from the clutteredness of Boston. Since then he’s dug clams and picked blueberries, and now considers himself a Mainer.

Things have gone downhill since he moved here. Many more people have moved to Southern and coastal Maine from the city, creating a divide. The money has gone to Southern Maine, and Northern Maine has been forgotten.

“Politics is all about numbers, and we don’t have the numbers,” Thompson said.

Note: This is part of a series of stories done while following Congressmen Tom Allen and Mike Michaud around Washington County this week. See also:

Political views in Washington County: A 4-story series

Creative Apparel: ‘Looking to expand if given a chance’

Acrobat Research brings jobs to Calais

Tribal interests at stake in national elections