Despite rumors, plant closing comes as shock to workers
JANESVILLE — When the Janesville GM plant lost its pickup truck line in the mid-1980s, workers started to worry they would lose their jobs.
John Resch, along with other GM veterans, was supposed to soothe the younger workers, but he was scared, too, he said.
“I had four kids,” he said. “I had 15, maybe 18 years (at the plant) if I had that. It really shakes you up, I’ll tell ya.”
Today, the nightmare workers feared in 1985 came true for 2,400 hourly and 200 salaried workers, sending a ripple of shock through current and retired plant employees.
Even though rumors have swirled for decades that the plant would close, the confirmation this morning is still a surprise, said Russ O’Leary, Milton.
“No matter what happens … it is still a shock,” he said.
O’Leary started work at the Janesville plant 28 years ago, and even then, he said, veterans told him he’d be laid off within the year.
He took the buyout plan last week. He wanted to move on and hoped his early retirement would help other workers keep their jobs, he said.
Now, it looks like that’s not going to happen.
“I had brothers that worked there, and I have cousins that work there, and I have many, many friends that work there, and this is going to affect the rest of their lives,” he said.
The closing will affect, not just the GM employees, but the entire community, Resch said. The loss of jobs will have a trickle-down effect on other businesses, especially those that directly supported the plant, such as LSI and Lear.
Resch has seen the effects of plant closings first-hand. As a UAW Local 95 committee member, he toured Flint, Mich., in the late 1980s.
“Block after block after block, businesses completely shut down,” he said, describing the city after plant closings devastated the local economy.
“All those people that complain about us (Janesville plant workers), you wait until this affects them,” he said. “Because it will.”
The plant closing also will affect the thousands of local retirees, who will no longer have local officials to turn to when they have questions about their benefits, he said.
Kathy Meek Martinez, Janesville, will feel the effects in two ways—as a retiree, and as the wife of a current GM worker.
Her husband, Ed Martinez, has 29 years in with GM.
“He’s going to hang in there until the end, he said,” Meek Martinez said.
At least the Janesville workers will have some time to figure out what they will do when the plant closes, she said. Her husband worked at another GM plant that closed with no notice.
“One day they were called in there, and they said, get your stuff, it’s done,” she said.
Jun 4, 2008 at 9:24 a.m.
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Exactly Simon. Or shopping the made-overseas aisles at WalMart...
Now that it is a done deal, GM people need to make use of any job aids offered by the company....resume construction, interview techniques, etc. The biggest obstacle will be their own negativity (blame-storming) and inability to progress out of denial stages. Negativity feeds on negativity, so strong support from family and friends will be needed.
Good luck to those losing their jobs.
Jun 4, 2008 at 7:16 a.m.
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This shouldn't come as a suprise to those who drive their rice burners, Fords, etc., to work at jobs at General Motors! Those people have always left a thorn in my side!!
Jun 4, 2008 at 6:32 a.m.
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YOU PEOPLE ARE IN DENIAL!!! FINALLY GETTING WHAT YOU DESERVE! THEY HAVE BEEN OFFERING TRANSFERS FOR 8 YEARS! IF YOU WANT THAT PENSION YOU MUST MOVE!!! NO NO NO DADDY CAN'T SAVE YOU NOW! no you will not get pampered at your next location....if you can even get there....the sad part is gm offered full tuition to get a degree and become more than a blue collar worker.....why didn't you take advantage of that? I have no sympathy for the workers the town or the community.... your comfort zone is about to broaden to a life you have never known...THANK GOD!!! YOU ALWAYS FELT SO ENTITLED AT THE PLANT.
Jun 4, 2008 at 3:01 a.m.
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In response to "JNR": Most of those who will be displaced by this will land on their feet in another GM facility. Your anger is misguided and ill-informed. We Auto-Workers are free spending types and most communities would be grateful for having us aboard. We'll take our tax money too and your teacher friends can get their pay cut as well. Quid pro quo. Arrivederci.
Jun 4, 2008 at 1:32 a.m.
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na-na-na-na
na-na-na-na
heeeeeeeey
good bye!
Jun 3, 2008 at 9:46 p.m.
Jun 3, 2008 at 6:06 p.m.
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Come on, a surprise??? How can it be a surprise to anyone???? Let's see, mostly uneducated workers making 30$ or more an hour plus great benefits and a generous retirement!!!! = vehicles that are way too expensive for the average person to buy and not worth what they ask for them anyway.....yet we have our teachers making what 15$ to teach our kids all day long??? if you cant see what is wrong with the picture, see an eye doctor. People lose their jobs everyday in every city in america, welcome to the real world.
Jun 3, 2008 at 12:06 p.m.
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My mother-in-law was a loan officer at a local credit union before she retired last year, she said that she would have couples come in, where both were employed at GM to get a loan to pay their mortgage, and were so in debt, that they didn't qualify for 2000 bucks. Said it happened all the time. I highly doubt it is a very large percentage of workers in that position, but makes you wonder about all the escalades and new tahoe's you see driving around town. I know it's not much comfort, but, at least they have a great benefit plan during their transition period. The guys at Gilman were just hacked loose. Good luck to all of them. BTW the father-in-law retired from GM 2 years ago, and they worked hard all their lives and saved pennies and paid cash for all the great things they have.
Jun 3, 2008 at 11:58 a.m.
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They did vote for major conceccions in the last contract. No wage increase,and will pay more for insurance. This was all done on top of a book of lies by GM and the union to keep the plant open.
Jun 3, 2008 at 11:20 a.m.
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Maybe the workers should have voted for other things besides wage increase and health ins.There is no such thing as job security.How many workers live from paycheck to paycheck?I guess a little planning for the future would have been good.Goodluck
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