JAY - Wausau Paper plans to cut back from a seven-day to a five-day-a-week schedule on its No. 11 paper machine due to the global economic slowdown, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Mike Nelson said Friday night.

The news follows the company's announcement in August that it would shut down another paper machine, known as No. 10, by the end of the year, putting about 150 of its 235 workers out of a job. The No. 10 machine has been running a limited five-day schedule since spring.

Members of a state labor response team were at the Otis mill site this week to talk to workers about their options once they're laid off.

Wausau officials said in August that the company intended to focus on keeping the No. 11 machine operating. The paper produced on that machine is highly linked to the industrial sector, Nelson said.

"It's just simply a direct result of a global economic slowdown," he said. "The markets we serve - general industrial, automotive and home-building sectors - are depressed. We're just aligning output to demand. It's a demand phenomenon."

The grade manufactured on No. 11 is highly strategic to Wausau Paper, he said. The machine makes a release backing for masking tape and blue painter's tape, among other products.

Nelson did not know how many workers it would affect or the exact day the reduced week would start, but a company official would be available to answer those questions Monday, he said.