Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Potlatch employees not happy with severance pay

Former employees of Prescotts Potlatch Facility have completed meetings with company officials to determine severance packages, and some say they are not pleased with the results.

We accepted what the company offered, said union president Nicky Ward. I wouldnt say it was very good.

Following the final meeting with the company, Ward said he was satisfied that the union had done what it could for the employees, but said he was disappointed with the outcome. The final settlement, according to several employees who, was that only those who had worked at least seven years got any severance package at all and the final amount amounted to less than half what employees had initially expected.

A group of about 20 met recently at Prescott as the Nevada County Economic Development was holding an informational meeting for other employees. The problem, they say, is not what was done to help them move forward but the fact that they were greatly limited with the package initially being offered.

You cant even move a family to get another job, said Randy Harris, citing the amount many of the employees are expecting and the amount that will remain after taxes.

Typically, companies that close permanently give their former employees severance packages that reward length of service. Potlatch employees said after the initial meetings that they have been offered less than half what theyd expected, and that the company has decided to put a cap on the number of years that will be rewarded. That means an employee who has been with the company for 40 years would get the same severance package as someone who has been there 26 years. And several have been there much longer than the 26 years.

Randolph Gulley lacks just a couple of months until his 27th anniversary. He said he got out of high school and went to work for Potlatch, and has been there ever since.

Asked what he plans to do next, he replied, What can I do? I want to go to school.

Another long-term employee is David Maskell who has been with Potlatch 42 years. Maskell said hell retire now, but that he supports his fellow employees as they seek the most fair package possible.

I started here in 1966, he said.

One former employee cited the cost of COBRA insurance, that the family plan is expensive and that they cant afford to be without it.

Most of us are going to work for less than we could draw in unemployment just to get insurance, said another.

The Potlatch facility announced that the plant would close by May and the company seems to be on track. Matt Van Vleet, a public relations spokesman for Potlatch, said the last Potlatch mill to close was probably seven years ago. He said negotiations are ongoing and declined to comment on any specifics, including what the cost to the company for a full weeks pay per year of service would cost the company.

Potlatch is a publicly traded company and as such, their earnings statements are public record. Annual reports are available online at www.potlatchcorp.com.