SKOWHEGAN — Members of the largest union of workers at Sappi North America’s Somerset Mill gathered Tuesday in a show of solidarity amid contract negotiations that have led to the threat of a strike.

By around 3:30 p.m., about two dozen members of United Steelworkers Local 4-9 had come to rally outside the Poulin-Turner Union Hall in Skowhegan, just a few miles north of the Skowhegan paper mill on U.S. Route 201.

The rally came after members of the local voted Sept. 20 to authorize a strike if needed, after rejecting an offer from the company.

The union’s most recent contract, ratified in 2022, expired in August according to Justin Shaw, president of USW Local 4-9.

There are about 480 members of USW Local 4-9, Shaw said, making it the largest of four unions at the Skowhegan mill. In total, the Somerset Mill employs 754 people, Sappi’s website says. Sappi North America, a subsidiary of an international company, has about 2,100 employees at facilities across the continent, including at three other mills.

Top concerns from the union in current bargaining include forced overtime, the company’s plan to change workers’ health insurance plan and the company’s proposed changes to earned paid leave policies, Shaw said in an interview.

“Wages are always there, but that’s not on the forefront right now,” said Shaw, a pipe fitter at the Skowhegan mill.

Required overtime is common at the Skowhegan mill, Shaw said, with many workers scheduled for 24-hour shifts. In some departments, such as waste treatment, workers have worked 36-hour shifts, he said.

Meanwhile, Sappi is seeking to change the health insurance it offers to workers in the local to an “inferior” plan, said Mike Higgins, USW’s staff representative for the region.

The new plan would be a co-insurance model, requiring the employee to continue paying 10% of health care costs after reaching the deductible, up to a higher out-of-pocket limit than the current plan, Higgins said.

Justin Shaw, president of United Steelworkers Local 4-9, speaks to members of the media Tuesday during the United Steelworkers Local 4-9 rally in Skowhegan. The union represents hundreds of workers at Sappi North America’s Somerset Mill in Skowhegan. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

Union leadership also says it is opposed to a change in policy about how employees can use vacation time for situations covered under the state’s earned paid leave law.

According to a news release from the union last week, workers in USW Local 4-9 currently are paid from 40 hours of earned vacation time in those situations but can negotiate being able to take the full vacation time without pay or reduced pay. Sappi is seeking to take away the vacation time when workers use earned paid leave, the union said.

The existing policy was secured in the last round of bargaining three years ago, Higgins said.

The steelworkers union’s situation is not unique in today’s economy, said Higgins, who was also involved in recent negotiations at the Huhtamaki mill in Waterville that resulted in what the local there called a “big win” for its 470 members.

“There’s a struggle going on in this country right now,” Higgins said in an interview. “Workers, whether they’re unionized or not unionized, are trying to find their way in this economy. Everybody is feeling the pinch at the grocery store, at the gas pumps. The cost of goods and services has gone up over the last three or four years. Our members are not unique to that.”

Sappi company officials, meanwhile, said in a statement they were “disappointed” that the union rejected its offer and authorized a strike.

Melinda Frith, left, and Beth Tilton, who work for Sappi North America’s Somerset Mill, grab solidarity signs Tuesday while attending the United Steelworkers Local 4-9 in Skowhegan. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

“We have presented a highly competitive offer, featuring industry-leading wage increases on top of wages that are already among the best in both the industry and the region,” the Boston-headquartered company said in the statement, issued Friday. “We take exception to the union’s characterization of the issues regarding overtime and vacation benefits. We remain hopeful that we will reach an agreement.”

The rift comes as Sappi is investing $418 million for an expansion at its Skowhegan mill, including the conversion of its No. 2 paper machine to make a packaging product. In a year, Sappi says the facility produces 1 million metric tons of coated wood-free paper, paperboard and label papers, and 525,000 metric tons of bleached chemical pulp.

“It doesn’t go unnoticed by the membership that they’re still investing in that facility,” Shaw said, “but the reason why they are investing is because their labor force being as strong as it is.”

Contract bargaining is scheduled to resume Oct. 17 and 18, Shaw said. No strike has been announced.

“Hopefully we can get some movement on the current issues that we have,” Shaw said of upcoming negotiations. “Then, a week and a half after that, roughly, we’ll bring it back to the membership for a vote. And we’ll go from there.”