Title
Interview with Ron Usher
Files
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Date of Interview
8-2-2001
Duration of Audio File
Audio File 1 -- 01:14:49; Audio File 2 -- 01:14:55
Interviewee
Ron Usher
Age
Born approximately 1939, 62 at time of interview
Gender
Male
Description
Usher was a rank and file worker and a son of an S.D. Warren worker. He worked at mill from 1960 into the 2000s. Usher participated in union organizing at mill in 1960s, and was recruited by leaders of United Paper Workers International Union (UPIU) Local 1069 to run (successfully) for Maine State Legislature.
Birth Place
Westbrook, Maine
Residence
Westbrook and Buxton, Maine
Occupation/Work History
Paper mill worker, paper machine hand, local union official, Maine State Legislature representative
Role
Union
Mill or Principal Employer
S.D. Warren Company
Mill Location
Westbrook, Maine
Keywords
Paper mills - Maine, Sappi Paper - History, S.D.Warren - Maine, union organizing, Democratic Politics, paper mill work life
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Hillard, Michael G. PhD, "Interview with Ron Usher" (2001). S.D. Warren Company. 53.
https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/sd-warren/53
Comments
Trenchant observations on a variety of topics and recollections of key experiences at mill. Had severe hand injury in 1960s and was put right back to work; describes rampant favoritism in the mill before it unionized; active in 1967 campaign to organize union; describes how Local 1069 transformed Westbrook from a Republican to a Democratic City after unionization. Represented labor union positions in legislature over a long career.