Louisiana Work Force Assists Mill Workers

Many of the paper mill workers in Bastrop havent had to look for jobs in decades. That means they havent filled out applications, prepared resumes, or gone on interview in a long time. However, these are all skills they will need to learn, or re-learn to get back into the workforce. Patricia Sweeney has worked at the International Paper Mill for decades. She doesnt know what the next step is and shes terrified. However, theres a sign of hope. The Rapid Response team, under the Louisiana Work Force Commission is providing early intervention. Patricia Sweeney is hopeful that help is on the way and said, "Ive never filled out a resume so I dont know how to do it, but theyre showing us how to do it." The sessions will include helping to prepare resumes and posting them online, working together with the work force to help find job placement, preparing workers for future interviews and taking questions about health care. Janna Taylor, a Facilitator and part of the work force team said, "What were trying to do is give them a place to go and get all the information that they need. Some people are interested in job search and want to go straight to work, other people are interested in training which we are definitely hoping to get them into." The Work Force Commission will be providing sessions starting December 9th from 9 am to 4 pm at the mill training center in Bastrop. The sessions will be held every Monday through Friday until January. Local schools also want to help out. The University of Louisiana Monroe is offering the Gold Program, a way to obtain an online degree and work full or part time. VO Tech has trade classes available and Louisiana Tech has re-training certificates and online classes. For more information on these programs, you can call or access their websites online.