Title
Interview with Mike Walsh
Streaming Media
Media is loading
Date of Interview
2014
Duration of Audio File
Audio File #1 2:41:50
Interviewee
Mike Walsh
Gender
Male
Residence
Waterville, Maine
Occupation/ Work History
Worked in "HR" the 2 decades following the 1971 strike, including as Director of HR in the 1980s
Role
Management
Mill or Principal Employer
Fraser Paper Company
Mill Location
Madawaska, Maine
Keywords
Fraser Paper Company - Madawaska - Maine, Paper Mill History - Maine, Labor Relations - Paper Industry
Abstract
Walsh's detailed observations about management-union relations, and legacy of 1971 strike that shaped these relations.
Document Type
Interview
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Mike Walsh, interview by Michael Hillard, , Stories of Maine's Paper Plantation, Digital Maine, Maine's Economic Improvement Fund, Digital Commons, University of Southern Maine
Comments
Of special interest is his description of bargaining in 1987-1988. At this time, labor relations at Maine paper mills was at a crisis state because of strike at International Paper's Jay, Maine mill. "IP" permanently replaced striking workers, most of whom never regained employment at the mill. Other companies including Fraser used the same "optics" (hiring strike breakers, putting a fence around the mill and adding huge security forces) to intimidate unions at the mill to accept dramatic concessions. The Fraser Paper Company was successful in gaining concessions without a strike.