Future weighs heavy on minds of GM workers
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
MORAINE — First-shift employees of the General Motors Corp. Moraine sport utility vehicle plant filed out of work Tuesday, June 3 with heavy hearts, uncertain of their futures following the company's announcement of the plant's closing by the end of 2009 or 2010.
Asked how he and others were coping, Lebanon resident Tom Supinger, a 52-year old, 26-year veteran assembler of the plant who did not take the company's buyout, summed things up.
Extras
"Disappointment, shock, a little depression," he said. "This is affecting more than just the plant. It's affecting a lot of jobs in this area."
Supinger said he hopes people pray for the families of workers at the plant and for area communities that prosper because of its existence.
"It's not just our jobs, it's a lot of jobs connected to this plant in the community," he said. "I'd just like to see things get better for everybody's sake."
Unlike Supinger, 48-year old Ken Price of Springboro took the company's buyout. He has worked at the plant for 27 years and is a material engineering changes coordinator.
"It won't affect me, but everyone is pretty upset," he said. "They've got to make decisions pretty quick about their future — hate to see it happen, but that's the way it is."
Making matters worse is a challenging job market, he said.
"They just don't know if they're going to get another job or if there's going to be jobs to get, so their futures, they're worried about it," he said.
Rob Cherry, a 40-year old New Carlisle contract employee who works at the plant as a commodity resource manager, said although news of the plant's pending closing hit many hard, others are "rolling with the punches."
"That says a lot about the work force here ... and even their frame of mind, in terms of their relationship with General Motors as a company," he said.
On a brighter note, Cherry said there is real viability for the production of products at the plant for other companies.
"That's because the work force is really a solid work force and they're focused on quality, and the union is agreeable," he said. "Where one door closes, another opens. That's really where I'm trying to keep my head,"
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-9338 or kmcallister@DaytonDailyNews.com.
