(The following Associated Press article was published on the website of television station WMTW on January 20.)
BANGOR, Maine — The new owner of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad is slashing pay by up to 40 percent and seeking voluntary layoffs because of a 25 percent drop in business linked to the bankruptcy and shutdown at Great Northern Paper.
Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway says it’s losing about $800,000 a month in revenue from the paper company and suppliers who ship wood chips, pulp, logs and other materials to the mills.
The only product being delivered to the Millinocket and East Millinocket facilities is heating oil.
Railroad president Robert Grindrod said the pay cuts and unspecified layoffs reflect the need to match expenditures with revenues.
Effective Friday, salaries for Grindrod and five vice presidents are being cut by 40 percent. Wages for the nearly 300 railroad employees are being reduced by 25 percent.