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Production reduction scheduled for Nov. 23 at Riverdale Mill
Published Thursday, November 13, 2008
The International Paper Riverdale Mill will shut down the week of Thanksgiving.
International Paper made the announcement Thursday, saying the demand for uncoated freesheet paper has declined. Freesheet paper, which is manufactured at the Riverdale Mill is generally used by businesses for office and business printing, publishing, commercial printing and writing.
The No. 15 Paper Machine at Riverdale will close down an additional week, said Russell Harris, Riverdale’s Mill manager. The shutdown will affect about 760 workers.
“Plans currently are to have No. 15 Paper Machine down approximately 16 days and No. 16 Paper Machine down approximately nine days,” Harris said. “This downtime the week of Nov. 23 will affect employees across the mill; however, there will be a limited number of employees onsite to perform essential functions, such as fire watch.”
Riverdale is not the only mill affected by the downtime.
Other freesheet paper mills also will have downtime. International Paper also announced the permanent paper machine at its Franklin, Va. Mill. Wayne Brafford, IP’s senior vice president for printing and communications papers, said the shutdown will result in the permanent curtailing of the company’s annual paper production capacity by about 150,000 tons of uncoated freesheet paper and affect about 50 employees.
Comments
Posted by leo71 (anonymous) on November 13, 2008 at 5:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Scary times.I wont be surprised if this "production reduction" turns into layoffs.
Posted by andrewb (anonymous) on November 13, 2008 at 8:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Let's hope not, because as a friend of mine said a while back, people will always need paper.
Posted by Dixie (anonymous) on November 13, 2008 at 8:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Not good - almost sounds about like Bush Hog!
When they start shutting down machines - it's evident there is a problem. Not all mills are affected. The mills with high employee productivity are not scheduled for product reduction!
Take pride in your work, it all comes down to job security in the end!
Selma will have to roll up the sidewalks if Riverdale closes.
Bush Hog and IP are the two of the largest companies left in Selma - what happens next? I am afraid to ask!
Posted by watchingthecounty (anonymous) on November 13, 2008 at 9:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If Dallas County had good strong leadership then maybe these plants wouldn't shutdown and layoff. First the Cigar Factory, then Bush Hog and now the mill, step up county leaders. Think outside the box, be innovative, do something!!!!
Posted by allmylife (anonymous) on November 14, 2008 at 2:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
watchingthecounty:
Please explain how our county leaders impact these national economy related decisions and what they can do to turn the economy and market conditions around.
Posted by nowhining (anonymous) on November 14, 2008 at 2:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I hate this is happening to IP, but I don't believe it's the COUNTY leadership, but the leadership at IP Riverdale Mill. I feel they are the one's who need to step up, along with the Unions out there, who to keep a GOOD PAYING JOB, may need to talk about concessions. If the paper is not selling, there will be more of these REDUCTIONS, until there is no Mill. All of the leaders, city, county, IP, and Union, need to sit down and work together to see what it will take to keep that mill going. If we loose that mill, SELMA might as well cut the lights out. Also, we need GOD'S help.
Posted by Clarissa49 (anonymous) on November 14, 2008 at 3:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree with "nowhining." Management and unions need to work together to save businesses and jobs. Mutual greed can cause problems for everyone, including people who don't even work at a business.
Let's face it people; we could be headed for a depression worse than the Great Depression. The mess created in the financial market is not helping. People in Congress including the Democrats were warned at least as early as 2004 about the problems with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They defended both. I believe the collaspse was intentionally planned to occur at the right time---during the 2008 presidential election. People in the know were aware and continued to do what led up to the bursting of the bubble. Do I trust them at all? NO!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by balletblue (anonymous) on November 14, 2008 at 5:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Reply to Dixie:
Are you on IP's payroll?.....
Posted by tiredofthistown (anonymous) on November 14, 2008 at 7:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
IP is just fine. Hammermill paper is the most popular and most recognized paper in the world. It doesn't matter how bad the economy is, people still need paper.This is just temporary and will be back to full speed in a couple of months. By the way, IP is in a hiring process.
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