Feds allow Canadian loggers to threaten Maine jobs, Senate president says in complaint

Last week, Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor alleging the agency has failed to enforce immigration law and protect U.S. loggers from illegal Canadian competition along the northern border.

Jackson, a former full-time logger, said the agency’s “continued failure” to enforce federal law “has left many Maine loggers and truckers struggling to find work and earn decent wages,” in a letter sent with the complaint.

Jackson’s criticism comes at a time when Maine’s forest products industry is struggling to overcome two simultaneous challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic, which has depressed demand for forest products globally, and the April explosion at the Pixelle Androscoggin Mill in Jay, which has decimated logging and trucking operations providing raw material to the mill.

At issue for Jackson is the federal H-2A visa program, which allows U.S. companies to hire foreign labor in the agricultural industry. Several Maine logging companies, which cut or haul wood for landowners, have acquired these visas to hire Canadian workers, including Canadian truck drivers.

Read more: https://bangordailynews.com/2020/09/18/mainefocus/feds-allow-canadian-loggers-to-threaten-maine-jobs-senate-president-says-in-complaint/