{"id":2876,"date":"2011-12-15T06:30:29","date_gmt":"2011-12-15T13:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/?p=2876"},"modified":"2012-02-28T16:18:09","modified_gmt":"2012-02-28T23:18:09","slug":"jobless-in-idaho-laid-off-mill-worker-uncertain-of-his-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2011\/12\/15\/jobless-in-idaho-laid-off-mill-worker-uncertain-of-his-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Jobless in Idaho: Laid Off Mill Worker Uncertain of His Future"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Courtesy Allen Brown<\/p>

Allen Brown is a single father with three teenage daughters. He's been out of work since October, 2011.<\/p><\/div>\n

Name: Allen Brown<\/h4>\n

Age: 44<\/h4>\n

Unemployed Since: October 2011<\/h4>\n

“Every day I go out and look for a job, come back in and look at my answering machine, see if it\u2019s flashing, see if I\u2019ve gotten a call \u2013 but as of yet, I haven\u2019t.”<\/h4>\n

The Idaho Department of Labor estimates nearly 70,000 people in the state don\u2019t have jobs.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t include thousands more who are underemployed or have stopped looking for work.\u00a0 This is the latest story in our \u201cJobless in Idaho\u201d series, that follows several Idahoans in their search for\u00a0work.<\/em><\/p>\n

When the Clearwater Paper sawmill announced<\/a> it was selling its Lewiston mill to the Idaho Forest Group back in October, the fate of 250 mill jobs was unclear.\u00a0 For many, it still is, even as the mill gets ready to re-open next week.\u00a0 For one of those laid-off workers, the upcoming holidays are just a reminder of that uncertainty.<\/p>\n

<\/object> Jobless in Idaho: Laid Off Mill Worker Uncertain of his Future<\/a><\/p>\n

This year, December 25th<\/sup> has taken on a new meaning for Allen Brown.\u00a0 It\u2019s the day he\u2019ll receive his final severance-pay-check from the former Clearwater Paper sawmill in Lewiston.\u00a0 \u201cSo, Merry Christmas,” Brown says.\u00a0 “I\u2019ll be trying to live on unemployment and raise three kids and myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown is one of the mill-workers who got laid off earlier this year when Spokane-based Clearwater Paper sold its Lewiston mill to the Idaho Forest Group.\u00a0 Brown was a saw-filer.\u00a0 “I helped to sharpen and take care of the large band saws they cut they wood with,” he says.\u00a0 “It was shift work, couple weeks of days, couple weeks of nights.\u00a0 It was a physically demanding job, but kind of fun.\u201d\u00a0 And Brown says the pay was good.\u00a0 He was making about $20 an hour, plus benefits.<\/p>\n

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