EAST CHICAGO | Seven of Union Tank Car's 10 departments already have shut down and their workers spend the work day sweeping, cleaning and thinking about how they'll find employment when the plant closes permanently.
Several job fairs have been conducted since the late March announcement that the Chicago-based railroad tank car company would shutter its local plant May 30, putting 375 hourly and 75 salaried employees out of work.
"I guess they've (job fairs) been productive," said Kelly Hounshell, president of Boilermakers Local 524. "I don't know if anyone has gotten employment through them yet. I know a few people who have been promised jobs, but I don't know if they're working yet or not."
The company is allowing employees, who worked in cells that are closed, to accept new jobs and to leave Union Tank and still retain termination benefits, Hounshell said. Five or six have left the plant, he said.
Severance benefits for Union Tank's union workers include a lump-sum payment as negotiated in the labor agreement with the company that depends on a worker's time of service, accrued vacation pay, three months of paid health insurance and 15 additional months of employee paid group health insurance coverage as provided by the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act.
Plus, workers also will get a $1,000 bonus if there's no sabotage or other deliberate damage done to the company's equipment or to the plant before it closes, Hounshell said. If any occurs, the cost of the damage would be deducted from the $1,000-per-employee bonus pool, he said.
"Thus far, there hasn't been any effect on the bonus pool money," Hounshell said. "I don't think there will be any deliberate damage ... We have a group of very good employees."
As await May 30, the workers' mood is thoughtful and somber, Hounshell said.
"People are wondering what tomorrow will bring," Hounshell said. "I'm sure they're wondering what will happen to them, just as I am. I'm like the others. I'll definitely have to seek employment somewhere. I'm 59. It's a long way to retirement and a longer way to health care."
