Posted on 11/12/2010 4:54:27 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
SPARTA, Tenn. - Hundreds of people prepared to face the holidays without a job, after the Phillips plant in Sparta announced it is closing.
Since the 1960's, the factory has manufactured fluorescent lighting and kept countless people in the area working. But officials for the company said the economy is forcing them to shut the place down.
"With the loss of 272 jobs it's going to be devastating we've got a lot of people that are on unemployment," Mayor Jeff Young said.
Nearly 300 workers found out Thursday that the plant will close in 2012. Employees will be laid off in phases up until that point.
The entire workforce is made up of local union members, and many have worked inside the plant for decades.
(Excerpt) Read more at newschannel5.com ...
The 2014 mandate doesn’t save them eh?
Yep. My little hometown of Hohenwald had a Genesco shoe factory, a clothing factory, and a textile factory making hydraulic, steam, water, and fire hose.
It’s never a good thing when the US loses more jobs to China. I have to wonder if things would have been different had the union worked harder with management to keep the factory open.
I have a gut feeling the union was locked in an “us vs them, fight to the death” mentality. I feel for the workers and their families about to go on unemployment in this horrible economy.
P.S. Note the verb “had”. Now there is almost nothing there.
But as Nancy Pelosi says, all those laid off workers will be so thrilled to know they will have health insurance - oh wait, if they have enough money they will.
To those of you who voted for nobama and other miscreant LIBs, how’s hopey-changey working out for you? To others, it is a sad day.
I visited there just last weekend. It says “home of Lester Flatt” as you enter the town. I thought about the Beverly Hillbillies.
CORRECTION:
They will be opening a new plant in INDIA or INDONESIA....
Isn't it great.... :-( ?
Huh?
I have lived in Sparta for just a little over a year. It is a great little town with great american and family values.
I retired 10 years ago,when my wife of 52 years had to go into a care home, after 40 years in Memphis. As the large cities have changed, but not for the better, even small towns are losing their godly values.
Our nation needs prayers, and a return to loving God and His Holy Word. “Blessed is the nation whose God in their LORD.....” (Psalm 33:12a)
This goes far in explaining the closing.
American tax payers keep getting kicked in the teeth and gang raped....
Ya should have forced those SOB to work for 1999 wages...Funny, I’ve never seen you complain about government union members, which now totally outnumber private sector union members.
“Our nation needs prayers, and a return to loving God and His Holy Word.”
Amen!
...does not support the accusation that the Local Union or the workforce resisted change.
Industry Week's article details many process innovations that workers originated and work rule changes that were obviously accepted by the Local Union leadership.
In other news reports, a company spokesperson says the Sparta plant's work will be shifted to Phillips’ other North American plants, which may include Mexico or Canada. Where they move the work can indicate why they are closing the plant.
It is unclear whether Phillips sought wage and benefit concessions from the Local Union or tax breaks from local and state government. The prospect of the Local Union “just going to have to do a lot of negotiating [to do]” could involve developing a plant-closing agreement that will cushion the blow of the closure for plant employees, their families, and the Sparta community.
Plant-closing agreements typically provide some form of severance pay, worker retraining & placement assistance, and occasionally provide the opportunity for the workers to relocate and work at the location where the manufacturing work is being transferred. It remains to be seen what the Local Union and Phillips will agree to.
Circumstances like this impose hardship beyond the ranks of the employees. The empathy of some writers here is evidence of that.
After the exhilaration of being recognized as an Industry Week ten-best plant, the 2012 closure announcement must be a staggering realization for everyone in Sparta.
Regardless of your opinion about Unions or the Local Union leadership, we can only hope — and pray — that Phillips will be a good corporate citizen and agree to plant-closing provisions that diminish the impact upon plant employees, their families, and the community of Sparta.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.