A Tire Plant Closes, A Community Withers
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Berry Craig, a member of AFT Local 6010, is author of True Tales of Old-Time Kentucky Politics: Bombast, Bourbon and Burgoo.
The snow-softened rubble of the Continental General Tire plant at Mayfield, Ky., reminds me of a scene in “New in Town.” We rented the movie from a video store the other night.
Lucy Hill, played by Renee Zellweger, is a high-powered corporate executive from sunny Miami. She’s been sent in snowy wintertime to a small Minnesota community similar to Mayfield, my hometown, first to downsize, then close, a food processing plant that her company owns. Plant secretary Blanche Gunderson, played by Siobhan Fallon, accidentally finds a list of workers Hill plans to lay off. She gently confronts Hill.
“I made that a long time ago,” Hill protests. “I made that list before I even knew you.”
Union Plus: Helping Financial Hand for Union Members in Tough Times
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The good folks at Union Plus want to remind union members the program offer a wide range of financial helping hands for union families facing hardships, including layoffs, in this staggering economy. Here’s a look.
Mortgage Assistance
* The Union Plus Save My Home Hotline may be able to help you avoid foreclosure. Call 1-866-490-5361.
* If you are a Union Plus mortgage holder and you are laid off, you can also apply for an interest-free loan from the Union Plus Mortgage Assistance Program. See details here.
Budgeting Assistance
- Receive a free budget analysis when you call Union Plus Credit Counseling at 1-877-833-1745. If you want additional help, you can enroll in a debt management plan (DMP) with no set-up fee and full reimbursement for the first year’s monthly fees.
- Be sure to take advantage of other consumer advice, tools and calculators at UnionDebtHelp.org.
- More budgeting tips and credit education 101 are available here.
New Plant Closing Bill: ‘FOREWARNED’ Is Better Armed
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The WARN Act, passed in 1988, was supposed to require employers to give workers and the surrounding community a 60-day advance notice of mass layoffs, providing workers a head start in preparing to find another job and communities a chance to brace for the economic impact.
But loopholes, exceptions and weak enforcement have undermined the act, say a group of lawmakers who have introduced new legislation (S. 1734 and H.R. 3042) to strengthen the WARN Act—the Federal Oversight, Reform and Enforcement of the WARN Act (FOREWARN).
Says Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the chief sponsor of the bill, along with Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.):
Mass layoffs send shock waves through individual households and entire communities. This bill is about protecting workers and helping communities respond to mass layoffs. The WARN Act was supposed to give employees time to find a new job. Unfortunately, fair notice has become the exception not the rule.
