Out of a job

[Knots]

It's becoming a predictable cycle. Some financial company buys the mill, they have someone else get it running, they mortgage it to the hilt, and then they walk away. Wash - rinse - repeat.

Sure would be neat if someone who was interested in running it long-term for profit would buy it...

 

[bubbasdad]

That has happened auto supplier industry, again and again. Companies are bought out get reorganized, cut wages, bennies, apply for and get tax subsides, sell out, reorganize... eventually the place is scrapped out. Frequently the local government gets a industrial site that is very toxic, expensive to clean up. Privatize profits, socialize losses.


Good luck, my plant closed in 08. I have a pension, and a decent investment portfolio. And a wife who works!! ( pimping ain't easy! ) I am enjoying things now, helping family members and friends, when they need it!

 

[Swedishchef]

And a wife who works!! ( pimping ain't easy! )

LOL!!

 

[mepellet]

Well, gittin' ready to head in for my last shift ................... 42 years, 8 months, 4 days ...................mixed feelings .............................................

Wishing you the best hoss!

 

[hossthehermit]

Thanks for the wishes, all ...................... at least I've got a winter's worth of heat in the house ................... and if she dies, I still got 4 and a half ton of pellets and 2/3 of a tank of oil .............. sure would miss her cookin', though .....................................

 

[peakbagger]

One thing I hate to mention is watch out for the scavengers who follow mill closings. Financial folks will pop up and have free seminars on how to deal with 401K money. They will lie and cheat to get you to transfer your 401ks over to them as most folks are fairly uneducated on them. Edwards Jones is somewhat infamous for recruiting former co workers to be their reps as they are trusted. Not as bad as many companies but they still work on commission and are very good at making sure you roll over your accounts every so often to get fresh commissions plus their expense fees are high. If you are in the situation where you need to rollover give Vanguard a call, no commissions and they are owned by the people who have accounts so no shareholders to keep happy and generally their funds are in the top ten for performance and the bottom in expenses. Assuming you qualify for TRA designation, various technical schools will start advertising to train anyone without skills into the exciting (fill in the blank) industry. I knew of several folks who took truck driving school and few if any did it for any length of time. Taking classes extends the TRA money so folks will grab at anything and there is a rush to get the money as when it runs out there is no more. The disability folks will start advertising at some point, they will get folks hooked up with friendly doctors who will confirm that apparently healthy folks are disabled from years of work and they will gladly help you fill out the paperwork for disability. Odds are the folks get designated disabled and then they get a "welfare" check until they retire for not working (or at least not working above the table).Odds are a title loan agency will show up in town. Throw in some financial folks who will pop into town with a brilliant idea to reopen the mill if they can just get someone to lend them all the money at no risk and its easy to get discouraged.

Of course then there are the folks who will game the system, hanging out at home while the wife works bemoaning they got screwed. Odds are they are the same folks you used to work with that you knew would disappear when any hard work needed to get done. It will become quite obvious after 6 months to a year on the folks that are gaming the system and the ones that just need a hand up.

It really sucks that this happens but I have seen it up close and know of it happening elsewhere.

 

[firefighterjake]

One thing I hate to mention is watch out for the scavengers who follow mill closings. Financial folks will pop up and have free seminars on how to deal with 401K money. They will lie and cheat to get you to transfer your 401ks over to them as most folks are fairly uneducated on them. Edwards Jones is somewhat infamous for recruiting former co workers to be their reps as they are trusted. Not as bad as many companies but they still work on commission and are very good at making sure you roll over your accounts every so often to get fresh commissions plus their expense fees are high. If you are in the situation where you need to rollover give Vanguard a call, no commissions and they are owned by the people who have accounts so no shareholders to keep happy and generally their funds are in the top ten for performance and the bottom in expenses. Assuming you qualify for TRA designation, various technical schools will start advertising to train anyone without skills into the exciting (fill in the blank) industry. I knew of several folks who took truck driving school and few if any did it for any length of time. Taking classes extends the TRA money so folks will grab at anything and there is a rush to get the money as when it runs out there is no more. The disability folks will start advertising at some point, they will get folks hooked up with friendly doctors who will confirm that apparently healthy folks are disabled from years of work and they will gladly help you fill out the paperwork for disability. Odds are the folks get designated disabled and then they get a "welfare" check until they retire for not working (or at least not working above the table).Odds are a title loan agency will show up in town. Throw in some financial folks who will pop into town with a brilliant idea to reopen the mill if they can just get someone to lend them all the money at no risk and its easy to get discouraged.

Of course then there are the folks who will game the system, hanging out at home while the wife works bemoaning they got screwed. Odds are they are the same folks you used to work with that you knew would disappear when any hard work needed to get done. It will become quite obvious after 6 months to a year on the folks that are gaming the system and the ones that just need a hand up.

It really sucks that this happens but I have seen it up close and know of it happening elsewhere.

Not seeing this directly . . . but I did see on the news last night there was a career fair for these folks and wouldn't you know it . . . a bunch of colleges were there recruiting . . . not to downplay this since it may present a good opportunity for some folks to get retrained and into a new career choice . . . but the skeptical side of me was thinking the same as you -- a) just how many decent good paying jobs will this result in and b) are the colleges there for the good of the now unemployed workers or are they there to cash in on other's misfortune by picking up extra tuition?

 

[hossthehermit]

Yes, I've seen this all happen intoo many mill closings over the last 20 years ............... I've known a lot of people affected in the other mills. The fact that this mill gave the 2 month notice just gave all the sharks time to get their plans ready, and get moved in and ready to "SAVE THE DAY" ..............

 

[Zebby]

Sorry to hear about your mill closing and loss of jobs. I missed this news in October.
Verso lost the Sartell, Minnesota plant to an explosion & fire a couple years ago as well.

The print/paper industries are declining.
We've lost 2 plants in the last couple of years.
The plant I work at made/makes Verso roll labels for the Bucksport, Quinnesec and Androscoggin mills.

 

[hossthehermit]

I've seen a lot of them over the years, Zebby .................. Have you heard if you'll get to make the ones for the New Page mills, now ?????

 

[Zebby]

We have made NewPage roll labels for some time. At least a couple of years prior to the news of the sale.

Our plant uses mostly plain bond paper and SCK backed label paper, plus a variety of specialty papers in smaller quantities. What types did your plant produce?

Since our other plants closed and we acquired some of their equipment, we've been getting lots of OT here. Not enough workers for all the work plus a couple of new industries recently starting up.

 

[hossthehermit]

Primarily Light Weight Coated for magazines, also a few specialty grades on one machine ......