EAST CHICAGO | After the call came about 7:20 Friday morning, it didn't take long for Kelly Hounshell to feel the pain.
Hounshell is president of International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers Local 524, which represents the 375 hourly workers at Union Tank Car's local plant. Seventy salaried workers also will be affected.
"I was getting ready to go to safety training," Hounshell said. "Dave Lawrence, a company official from Louisiana, said he needed to meet with me.
"I told him I'd be at the plant by 8 a.m. and he asked me if I could be there earlier," Hounshell said. "I asked him if it was bad news and he said 'it's not good.' I know a 60-day notice (Warren Act) is required to close a plant, so I did a little math in my head. I felt sick."
When he met with Lawrence, the company's manager of manufacturing resources, and other company officials less than a half hour later, they confirmed his fears. Union Tank Car is closing the plant, moving its production to the South and putting its employees out of work at the end of May.
Hounshell said the news was given to workers when they were called into the plant's cafeteria about 8:30 a.m., almost half an hour after the company had e-mailed the information to the media.
James Shirvinski, the company's general manager for manufacturing, read employees a letter explaining the closing and the 60-day closure notice. He also expressed his sorrow, saying he had worked at the plant for 10 years. Then Shirvinski left, Hounshell said.
"It's a big shock to all of us," he said. "It hurts. I never thought we'd close. I thought they might reduce production again, but not close. It's the cleanest the plant has ever been and production is running smoother than it ever has."
The East Chicago location has been the company's "mother plant" and has made billions of dollars for its owners over the years, he said.
"I wish there were some way to keep the plant open so the membership could make a living here," Hounshell said. "Some will find a job quickly, some will take a long time and others won't ever find one."
Hounshell said he and other union officials will meet with company Tuesday to discuss the details of the closing. The plant is lowering production to 20 cars a week, but the union has been assured no one else will be laid off before the plant closes.
A worker, who asked not to be identified, said the news comes as a surprise, although it has been rumored for some time.
"It seems like it is inevitable, but we were hoping it wouldn't happen," said the worker, who has been employed there for seven years. "Everyone is down and out. It's our livelihood ... Thank God my wife's working. Hopefully I'll get into the mills, or try to get into BP. It's a lot of people to put out of work at the same time."
