Senator Olympia J. Snowe

SNOWE PRESSES DHS SECRETARY RIDGE TO IMMEDIATELY TAKE STEPS TO AVERT CRISIS IN MAINE’S LOGGING INDUSTRY DUE TO H-2B VISA SHORTAGE

Senator pursues two-pronged approach: Urges Department of Homeland Security to use temporary “parole power” as Department of Labor considers reclassifying forestry workers as agricultural

Contact: Antonia Ferrier/ (202) 224-5344
Monday, July 12, 2004

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) today pressed the Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge to take immediate steps to rectify a potential economic emergency facing the forest products industry in Maine due to a visa shortage that is affecting Canadian loggers that historically have traveled across the border to fill jobs for which no domestic workers are available.

Today’s request to Ridge is part of a two-pronged approach by Snowe to address the forest products industry’s looming crisis. On June 29th, Snowe urged the U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) to reclassify these Canadian workers as agricultural workers, which would place them under the H-2A visa classification that is not subject to an annual cap. Today, she spearheaded a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Tom Ridge requesting the use of DHS parole authority, to permit this limited group of loggers to come into the United States temporarily as Snowe works with DoL to craft a long-term solution.

“With thousands of local Maine jobs at stake – in our mills and in our forests – I am committed to leaving no stone unturned in the effort to save the summer timber harvest in Maine,” Snowe explained. “My paramount goal is protecting Maine jobs that depend on the forest products industry. Our mill workers and families have seen too much economic hardship already. While I continue to work with the U.S. Department of Labor to craft a long-term solution that recognizes logging professionals as agricultural workers, I am requesting that Secretary Ridge use his parole authority to forestall the impending damage to the entire industry.”

With a reduction in harvest of approximately thirty-eight percent in the hardest-hit parts of Maine, the industry will very likely face 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.

“A solution is urgently needed to avert an economic crisis for the forest industry in Maine. The Canadian loggers are already beginning to seek alternative employment further away from the Maine job sites. Immediate action is needed to ensure that an adequate number of loggers will be available to do this work. These Canadian loggers are normally at work by May or early June, and are reaching full production capacity by early July. As a result of the loggers' inability to cross the border to begin work, many paper and saw mills in Maine are rapidly depleting their current inventory of wood, and U.S. logging contractors will shortly be facing bank foreclosure on their equipment which sits idle due to lack of qualified operators,” the letter spearheaded by Snowe to DHS Secretary Ridge read.

Each year, the forest products industry employs approximately 700 Canadian logging professionals out of a total logging workforce of approximately 3,000. In compliance with DoL’s certification process, the industry hires these foreign workers only after all attempts to hire sufficient numbers of U.S. workers have failed. The remote location of most logging sites in Northern and Western Maine, and the resulting long commuting distances from the nearest towns, have contributed to an insufficient level of interest in these jobs by qualified American workers. This shortage of domestic labor has made it necessary for employers to supplement their workforces with Canadian labor. In fact, for more than 50 years, the Maine forest products industry has utilized Canadian loggers to fill the gap between the domestic labor supply and the number of loggers needed.

“There are two sound administrative solutions available. One lies within the authority of the Department of Labor, which has already been asked to reclassify these logging jobs as agricultural, thus permitting loggers to be hired through the H-2A program. The reasons for reclassification of loggers as agricultural workers are compelling. In fact, Department of Labor regulations already treat loggers differently from any other H-2B workers, and almost exactly like H-2A workers. However, we understand that the Department of Labor may not be able to accomplish this before the summer harvest, in time to avert the looming economic emergency,” the letter continued.

“The other solution lies within DHS's authority, and may be critical in light of the complex and potentially time-consuming reclassification process. DHS has the authority to exercise its parole power to permit this defined group of loggers to come, temporarily, to the United States. The parole power, which is extraordinarily broad, can be exercised flexibly and quickly pending the outcome of the Department of Labor’s consideration of the reclassification issue,” the letter said.

Canadian loggers have traditionally entered the United States in the H-2B visa classification for temporary nonagricultural workers. Earlier this year, the annual H-2B quota of 66,000 visas was reached, leaving the timber industry without its traditional means of hiring Canadian loggers. Yet the industry has reached the limit of U.S. workers available to perform the labor. Statutorily capped at 66,000, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stopped accepting petitions for H-2B visas in early March of this year.

Snowe has cosponsored legislation by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) that would provide that any seasonal worker who has already been an H-2B visa holder during any one of the past two fiscal years will not be counted toward the H-2B cap for FY04 – currently set at 66,000. She is also an original cosponsor of legislation by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) that would raise the overall cap on the amount of H2-B visas issued annually. The intent of both bills is the same and would alleviate the stress imposed on Maine’s economy. The Senate has yet to consider either piece of legislation.