2005 Toshiba Final Tear OUt

At the very beginning of 2005, a very sad thing happened. The head honchos at Toshiba decided to dismantle the factory and send it to a non-union factory in Ohio. Hundreds of employees were laid off with no warning and limited severance packages. Mostly it was blue collar manufacturing people who had few other skills. Many had worked there all their lives as had their families. In addition, Toshiba regularly hired building trades’ members to renovate old or install new systems. The closing was going to have a large impact on the community. Strangely enough, I was hired to do the final tear out of the facility. We were to remove all the piping from the machines back to the main lines. This was to allow them to move the equipment to the new plant. It felt so wrong to tear out piping I had installed just years before. At the Labor Council, we gathered our resources and fought to keep the company alive. When that failed, we asked our elected officials in Albany and Washington for help. We needed training and job placements for the disenfranchised workers. We needed financial help for families until they could find other jobs. Not only was there a recession, but many manufacturing jobs were headed overseas. One night on behalf of the Labor Council, I attended a community meeting with our government representatives to discuss what help was available. I mostly listened to all the sad stories and the platitudes they were receiving from the politicians. Every morning there were 30 or 40 Hispanics leaving from the night shift as I came in to work. Since I spoke a little Spanish, when I asked they told me they were staying at a local fleabag hotel, in three rooms. I stood up at the meeting and asked why they weren’t using their own employees to do the unskilled part of the tear out. One woman responded that she was told she had to have a “card” to do the work. I laughed and said, “I’m not even sure they have green cards”. The company officials never had a reason for not keeping their people working as long as possible. The next morning at work, my foreman Billy F said the company manager wanted to see me. I asked him to stay with me as a witness while the manager chewed me out. The manager swore every one of those workers was legal; I was wrong to make such an accusation. I agreed I had no proof, but if he wanted I would write a letter to the paper apologizing. I think he realized that would make some reporter take notice and declined my offer. By the end of the meeting, we agreed to work on the same side, helping the Toshiba workers get a fair deal and some help along the way. As I was leaving, he said it was frustrating that he could never get through to our Senators. I said, “Really? Because they always get back to me!” I had started as President of the Labor Assembly thinking it was all social gatherings and parades. It was turning into something that filled my life with purpose. I thought we could make a difference and maybe change our little corner of the world.