PERSONAL: “The system’s broken”: West Virginia lumber worker not impressed by Harris or Trump

Record ID: 1846217

  • Title: PERSONAL: “The system’s broken”: West Virginia lumber worker not impressed by Harris or Trump
  • Date: 2nd October 2024
  • Summary: MARLINTON, WEST VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 30, 2024) (REUTERS) DRONE AERIAL OF JIM C. HAMER LUMBER COMPANY’S DRY KILN LUMBER OPERATION (MUTE) VARIOUS OF MANAGER DAMIAN ELLIOTT WALKING ALONG STACKS OF LUMBER (SOUNDBITE)(English) DAMIAN ELLIOTT, MANAGER AT JIM C. HAMER LUMBER, SAYING: “Now our industry is going to be Trump 100%, I mean, there’s no doubt about it. I’m not, I don’t fall in that. I don't like either one of them. I don't, I don't like politicians, period. I think that we have gotten past the usefulness of the situation. I think the system is broken. I really do. I think that the Constitution was the greatest paper ever written by people that worked. And now the people that don't work are running the country. And they're they're out of touch. They're out of touch with what goes on. When's the last time they bought groceries? You know what I'm saying? So as an industry, I'm sure that it is largely pro-Trump.” VARIOUS OF STACKS OF WOOD WORKER DRIVING FORKLIFT (SOUNDBITE)(English) DAMIAN ELLIOTT, MANAGER AT JIM C. HAMER LUMBER, SAYING: “Well, I feel like they're gravitating towards Mr. Trump because of the economic aspect of it. You know, large export quantity goes to China and other countries. And, you know, we kind of, I kind of think that that's probably more advantageous to try to help that situation. I don't know that, but I would say that's the general opinion.” VARIOUS OF WORKER DRIVING FORKLIFT (SOUNDBITE)(English) DAMIAN ELLIOTT, MANAGER AT JIM C. HAMER LUMBER, SAYING: “Yeah, the ports closing does concern us. You just don't know what the long term, you know, long term effect is. It's all about timing from that standpoint. If they closed for two or three days or a week, yeah, it's very inconvenient, but it's something you can get around. They close for two months, which I don't think there's any way that could ever happen because Walmart would never allow that. But I mean, it's just going to be a mess if something like that happens.” VARIOUS OF LUMBER IN WAREHOUSE, FORKLIFT DRIVING AND ELLIOTT WATCHING (SOUNDBITE)(English) DAMIAN ELLIOTT, MANAGER AT JIM C. HAMER LUMBER, SAYING: “The industry's in pretty tough times. It's been several years of the prices have been down. Fuel, diesel fuel has been up. It's been, it's been a little bit of a tough stretch. There have been several facilities, several companies that have gotten out of the company, that no longer, that have gotten out of the industry, that no longer exist.” VARIOUS OF WORKERS TYING WOOD (SOUNDBITE)(English) DAMIAN ELLIOTT, MANAGER AT JIM C. HAMER LUMBER, SAYING: “I just would like to see, you know, maybe a stronger stance on import-export equality, which is a tough, it's a tough sell. You know, that's a tough thing. We import way more than we export. And that's part of the problem. So that and just economic stability, you know, trying to, trying to get things to level out a little bit. It's really a large price increase on almost everything. You go from, from point A to point B in the last three or four years, if you've bought anything.” VARIOUS OF WOOD GOING THROUGH CONVEYOR BELT (SOUNDBITE)(English) DAMIAN ELLIOTT, MANAGER AT JIM C. HAMER LUMBER, SAYING: “Just employment, I mean it’s a huge, huge employer in this area. No doubt about it. You gotta look all the way up and down, loggers, truckers, huge trucking environment. You know, you got truck chips, got truck lumber, got truck sawdust, everything is trucked pretty much, depending on your location. So it’s very important, especially to smaller communities that are, you know, in the middle of nowhere, if they have a facility, it is largely economically important.” VARIOUS OF FORKLIFT CARRYING WOOD VARIOUS OF LUMBER FORKLIFT CARRYING WOOD VARIOUS DRONE AERIALS OF JIM C. HAMER LUMBER COMPANY’S DRY KILN LUMBER OPERATION AND THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS (MUTE) VARIOUS OF JIM C. HAMER LUMBER SIGN
  • Embargoed: 16th October 2024 22:11
  • Keywords: 2024 presidential election appalachian donald trump hamer kamala harris lumber lumber industry marlinton port strike timber west virginia
  • Location: MARLINTON, WEST VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES
  • City: MARLINTON, WEST VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: North America,Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA001847001102024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Damian Elliott started working at his current West Virginia lumber operation just three days after graduating college with a forestry degree – 29 years ago.
    Elliott is the manager of the dry kiln lumber operation of Jim C. Hamer Lumber in Marlinton, West Virginia, a small Appalachian town with a population of about 1,000 people.
    As the industry struggles with high operational costs, layoffs, closings, increased overseas production and unpredictable weather, the 50-year-old Elliott expressed dissatisfaction with both 2024 presidential candidates while saying many lumber workers support Republican candidate Donald Trump.
    “I don’t like either one of them…I think the system is broken,” Elliott said. “They're out of touch with what goes on. When's the last time they bought groceries? You know what I'm saying? So as an industry, I'm sure that it is largely pro-Trump.”
    Elliott said there’s a belief Trump might economically benefit companies like his, which he said are importing more goods from overseas than exporting lumber out, one of his key concerns.
    Amid the dockworkers strike impacting ports from Maine to Texas, Elliott expressed uncertainty.
    “If they close for two or three days or a week, yeah, it's very inconvenient, but it's something you can get around,” Elliott said. “They close for two months…it's just going to be a mess if something like that happens.”
    The company Elliott works for, Jim C. Hamer Lumber, has operations throughout West Virginia and Kentucky. At the dry kiln lumber operation in Marlinton, wood is heated and dried in kilns to remove moisture and minimize defects in the lumber. The most common types of wood they work with are red and white oak, poplar as well as hard and soft maple, all types of wood commonly found in the Appalachian mountains.
    West Virginia is the second-leading U.S. state for hardwood in the country. The state’s wood industry generates $3.2 billion a year and supports more than 30,000 jobs in West Virginia, according to the state government.
    (Production: Evan Garcia)
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