At issue is the current shortfall of the availability H-2B temporary worker visas, which have been utilized by Canadian workers to fill timber industry in jobs in Maine for the past five decades. While Senator Collins has been working on a number of legislative solutions in the US Senate, she is requesting that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge exercise his "parole power" to enable these workers to enter the US immediately until a long-term solution can be found. This will help minimize the devastating impact the shortage of timber industry workers will have on Maine's economy this summer.
Senator Collins is working to both increase the number of H-2B visas that are available and to reclassify timber workers to a worker category that is not affected by the H-2B visa cap.
In a letter to Secretary Ridge, Senator Collins wrote, "In view of the impending economic crisis, we believe that DHS has the authority to exercise its parole power to permit this defined group of loggers to come, temporarily to the United States. [This] power can be exercised flexibly and quickly pending the outcome of the Department of Labor's consideration of the reclassification issue. This is an ideal short-term remedy to avoid dire economic consequences."
Senator Collins stressed to Secretary Ridge that while the timber harvest industry has made every attempt to hire American workers, there is a significant shortage of workers to fill the jobs that are necessary to sustain the industry this summer. - MORE - - TIMBER WORKERS, 2 -
By exercising such authority, Secretary Ridge would provide immediate authorization for Canadian timber industry workers to enter the U.S immediately for a limited duration of time.
Senator Collins explained that the timber harvest industry has informed her that with a reduction in harvest of approximately thirty-eight percent in the hardest-hit parts of Maine, there will very likely be mill closures, furloughs, and layoffs.
According to a study commissioned by the Maine Forest Product Council, Maine Pulp and Paper Council and the Forest Resources Association, loss of supply at this level will directly reduce employment by nearly 3,000 jobs at the mills in Maine. With multiplier effects, total economic impact on Maine could reach nearly 9,000 jobs lost, over $300 million lost in payroll, and approximately $1.5 billion in total output lost. Most of this job loss will involve U.S. workers and their families and will be concentrated in rural areas, where unemployment in some locales is already double the state average. These job losses will come at precisely the time the U.S. forest products industry is beginning to regain its footing. Nationally, the industry has closed more than 220 paper and wood products manufacturing facilities and lost more than 125,000 manufacturing jobs since 1997.
"A solution is urgently needed. I look forward to working with you to solve this problem in a manner that will enable our state to avoid a major economic disaster and keep the paper mills and saw mills in operation," added Senator Collins.
####