Carlisle Plant Closing to Put Members Out of Jobs
November 6, 2008
Carlisle members (Local 679) got the news on Monday, October 20, 2008 that the Carlisle plant would be closing its doors permanently beginning December 19, 2008. This, of course, has been devastating news. Many of the employees have been working at the plant for more than ten years and to see their jobs disappear at this time has been extremely sad. We have seen this happen more and more frequently due to the failing economy.
The good news is that these employees have a union, and the company notified the union, so we could discuss what employees would walk away with.
The company with the oversight of the union has offered employees a very good severance package. There will be a transition out of the plant with a small number leaving on December 19th. The majority of employees’ last day will be on December 31st, and the rest will leave on January 31st.
All employees will continue to accrue sick leave and vacation leave through that time and all sick leave and vacation leave will be cashed out. In addition, everyone will receive a minimum of 2 weeks severance pay with any employee who has more than 2 years of service receiving an additional week for every 2 years of service.
Also, the 401K and stock that people have, they can roll over. The company has also informed people what their healthcare would cost to continue through COBRA so that employees can prepare.
The company is working with the Department of Labor to help employees receive their unemployment benefits as smoothly as possible and work with the Department of Labor’s Jobs Information System to help employees find other employment options. The company has also agreed to pay for 2 programs, called HorizonCare and WorkLife, for employees .
Horizoncare is designed to help employees deal with not only the financial concerns brought on by job loss but also emotional and mental stress, depression, and anxiety.
Worklife helps employees with job searches, childcare concerns, educational options, and more to help employees get back on their feet and secure another job.
The employees received a good package, but it still does not ease the pain of losing their jobs and their union. Over the last several months, Carlisle employees worked hard to rebuild their union, they doubled their union membership and elected new stewards. We do think that this effort did help us to secure a better package than we would have received.
We want to thank all who worked so hard for the union over the years. We want to recognize and thank Kemuel Fowler and Francisco Hunter for all the work that they did over the years as stewards. We also want to recognize and thank Greg Bennett and Eugene McAllister, our new stewards for their work and service in helping to rebuild the union. Eugene McAllister also volunteered his time and energy during the Obama campaign and really worked hard registering people to vote and canvassing neighborhoods to get people out for election day. When he spoke about the experience of losing his job but seeing Barack Obama win the presidency, he said, “I may not have a job on January 1st, but I still have hope.”
We all have hope that things will get better, and we all are dedicated to doing our part to make sure that they get better. While this may be a hard time for many, we must continue to not give in to despair. Things will change and we, as a people, will progress and move forward.