GM Moraine plant workers end jobs, confront the future
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
MORAINE — Lisa and Pat Whittaker have each worked 14 years at General Motors Corp.'s Moraine Assembly plant, met there and married.
"We'll be taking more than our toolboxes out of here," Lisa Whittaker, 39, said with a smile Tuesday, Dec. 23, in an interview just off the plant's property.
But both were coping with the emotional burden of saying goodbye to people they have worked with, as GM ceased production Tuesday at the sport utility vehicle assembly plant. Seeing the plant emptying out after co-workers had finished their labors in the body and paint shops underscored the finality.
"It's really, really hard," said Lisa, who had attached pictures of co-workers to her toolbox.
"When you see people every day for 14 years, it's like family," said Pat, 41.
They have already made plans to move on with their lives. Lisa is scheduled to start a nursing education course in January at Hondros College in Fairborn. In February, Pat is to start a welding training program at the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology in Troy.
They said they are also taking advantage of programs that their union, the International Union of Electronic Workers-Communications Workers of America, negotiated with GM. Under those programs, IUE-CWA members losing jobs at the Moraine plant can get cash severance benefits and transfer into jobs that become vacant at GM plants represented by the rival United Auto Workers union. In addition, IUE-CWA members who lose their jobs because of a plant closing can become eligible for retirement benefits at 50, Pat Whittaker said.
Gaylen Turner, president of IUE-CWA Local 798 which represents the GM Moraine production workers, worked on the plant's assembly line. The plant's closing marks the second time he will lose a job in that building.
Turner was hired there in 1977 when it was a Frigidaire appliance factory. He built washer and dryer tubs before losing his job in 1979.
In 1985, he was hired back there after GM had converted it into an automotive assembly plant.
"I've come full circle," Turner said.
He said he expects to stay busy helping connect the plant's union workers with available benefits as they restructure their lives.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
