Striking workers at Smurfit-Stone Container got the bad news Monday afternoon that the company will close the St. Joseph plant.
Only a handful of workers sat on the picket line Monday afternoon at Smurfit-Stone Container. Smiles in the warm sun quickly faded as they heard the news that they probably weren't going back to work at the St. Joseph plant.
Mike Mitchem stood solemn in front of the group.
"They said they were sorry," Mr. Mitchem told them. "But that's the decision they made. They're closing this location."
Their fears were confirmed. Most of them said they'd heard rumors off and on for weeks but kept strong and felt persistence might pay off. Members of the Graphic Communication Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 235 went on strike Dec. 1.
Smurfit-Stone has decided to close the cardboard box factory at 2315 Lower Lake Road. The company sent a letter to Mayor Ken Shearin and the union dated Feb. 6 stating it will terminate all 86 hourly employees and 15 salaried employees no earlier than April 7. The letter was sent in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
"We're just like everyone else now," said Nathan Hayes. "Just look for a job. What else can we do?"
Mr. Mitchem was unsure if the workers would be eligible for unemployment benefits but encouraged the distraught group to at least go apply.
A list of employees included with the letter to the mayor names the hourly employees with their years of service ranging from 37 years to a few months. Most of the hourly pay was $14 to $15 per hour.
The closure comes just two weeks after the corporation filed for bankruptcy.
A Smurfit spokesperson said production at the St. Joseph plant had been idle for a while. Work was shifted to other company-owned facilities in the area. "This closure had nothing to do with and was not a result of the bankruptcy," said Mike Mullin, with Smurfit.
He said the plant's production, prior to the strike, was likely more of a deciding factor.
The local union will continue to strike until the plant officially locks up its doors. Officials said the union replied to Smurfit asking them to reconsider the decision to close. Officials with the company and the union will likely discuss severance packages and unpaid vacation pay owed to many employees on strike. Mr. Mullin did say that salaried employees could be given the opportunity to relocate to another facility.
The union represented the workers at the plant for 30 years and the current strike was the first at the local plant. Mr. Mitchem and many of the workers said the closing was a surprise despite the company's recent bankruptcy filing.
"We've had no contact with the company except for this," Mr. Mitchem said. "This was a shock to us. They said 'no' just nine days ago on closing."
Jennifer Hall can be reached
at jennhall@npgco.com.
Share Your Thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. We do not review every post or respond to every removal suggestion. Comments that threaten someone or degrade them on the basis of gender, race, class, national origin, religion or disability will be removed. Comments containing abusive, vulgar or sexually-oriented language will be removed. Comments that spread rumors or lies will be removed. Please discuss only what has been factually proven. Comments posted in all caps will be removed. Stay on topic! Brief quotes are okay as long as the source is given. Blatant cutting and pasting is not acceptable. Comments must be kept under 250 words or less. Stjoenews.net moderators also reserve the right to remove comments for any reason they deem worthy. Click here for our full user agreement.
Wilford says...
Way to go St. Joe!! You really showed them.
February 10, 2009 at 12:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
howarddecker says...
Congratulations! The striking workers and the union sure made their point. They complained about the plant working too many hours, now they won't have to worry about that any more.
I am truly sorry jobs were lost and the plant is closing. You can't say the striking workers didn,t expect it. This was a bad and fateful decision to strike. Bad advice given by union officials.
This is a bad thing all around. Bad for the workers, bad for the company, bad for St. Joseph and bad for the economy.
February 10, 2009 at 4:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Rax says...
"The local union will continue to strike until the plant officially locks up its doors"
Keep throwing gas on that fire, that will certainly help company/union relations!
February 10, 2009 at 5:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
daysgoneby says...
Remember at least 60% voted to strike. The company was in the process of upgrading and replacing old equipment BEFORE the strike. But no more... I felt sorry for the union at first but your leadership council gave wrong info and advice. Should have sucked it up till the economy got healthier. Remember manufacturing continues to leave the US at a alarming rate that equals less demand for boxes.
NO one won, not the union employees, local plant management, customer service people, the local goverment, and most importantly the family structure. Truly preventable....
February 10, 2009 at 8:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
barneybad66 says...
A poorly timed strike for sure,with the economic dowturn that was happening at the time of the start of the strike. Most generally the Union needs to feel it has some leverage to be succesfull with this type of position, I'm wondering what that was ?I feel bad for ALL employees at this plant,this will affect everyone down there.
February 10, 2009 at 8:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Boxman says...
Nice timing for that strike! What a complete debacle. Dont worry, there are plenty of jobs out there.
February 10, 2009 at 8:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
heritage_sarahhochschwender says...
MS> HALL this article mentions Mike Mitchum, but Never identifies his position.
is this the union boob who advocated this ill advised strike? if so,i find it unbelievable that he would not know whether his "brothers" will be eligible for unemployment!
the two most devastating statements in this article:
______________________________________________________
"We're just like everyone else now," said Nathan Hayes.
______________________________________________________
The local union will continue to strike until the plant officially locks up its doors.
___________________________________________________
THIS IS TRAGIC.
February 10, 2009 at 9:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
countryvet says...
It is a sad situation..but I doubt very seriously, if this company,being in the financial situation it is in, puts severence packages,unpaid vacation or any other benefits to employees at the top of it's court supervised re-organization plan.Maybe everyone should have looked down the path they took, before stepping out and walking!!!!
February 10, 2009 at 4:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goobentrot says...
Reading the comment the union will continue to strike until the plant locks up its doors struck me as a little silly if not down right stupid. If the union workers from that plant sit in the cold for several more days I could begin to see the mentality that got them there.
February 10, 2009 at 5:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
watchdog says...
The Leaders of the Graphic Communication Conference need a CAT Scan to check if they have any brains at all. Who advises their union members to go out on strike in this economy and then expects that the company that booted them out the door will provide them with severance pay? As to the people who went along with that, please tell me that there was some overwhelming reason that you allowed your "representatives' to cause you all to hit the streets looking for work?
February 10, 2009 at 5:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
HenryAllison says...
What I find most disturbing, the union fat cats, the pezzonovantes, the guys that convinced the working-class dogs that the mutt-faces didn't have to take any more crap from the company; those guys are still smoking big cigars and driving Cadillac cars. Those guys are living large on Other People's Money. Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a place in our economy for trade unions, but not anymore. The unions, realizing they can't beat big business, and in order to survive, have turned on their own working class heroes. Of course, some day the rancid chickens will come home to roost but in the meantime, it's Fat City for the union brass.
February 10, 2009 at 6:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RJW says...
The unions are a useful as a horse drawn carriage.
February 10, 2009 at 6:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
megafrog says...
Hopefully this will serve as a lesson for any other union rank and file who are upset that they are working too many hours to quit the whining. Be grateful you have a job.
February 10, 2009 at 7:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
heritage_sarahhochschwender says...
and our president has mandated that work done in his stimulus package be done by only union contractors. all steel used in those projects..... must be US steel.
good way to shoot the hell out of a budget, if you ask me!
February 10, 2009 at 9:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
StJoeMoe says...
My heart and prayers go out to all those effected.
Times are tough, and now is the time to come together as a community and stop the divisions of the past.
February 10, 2009 at 10:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
recordsetter says...
Personally I think that they had planned on closing the the doors before we went out. this just gave them the ammo to do it. We all knew tht this might happen. we just didn't expect it. The funny thing is that the company spent more money keeping us out than what we were asking for. They just didn't care or want to work with us. We were willing to make consessions but again no dice. It was even offered to them that we would get no raises for 2 years. How much more could we give them our first born sons. Maybe it is best that they did what they did. Well it's done and over with and it is sad but there are some hard working people out there looking for jobs. Lesson well learned. My family and I will figure this out somehow. Too all those who supported us thank you. Too those who didn't it is America you do have the right to your opinion. It is done and over and we don't need to slap each other around anymore.
February 11, 2009 at 3:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
doughball says...
As I have said before, egos got in the way of making good decisions here on both sides of the table. The Union management should have never let their people walk. Smurfit is in survival mode. They will have to close literally dozens of plants to survive. Obviously continuing to operate a plant with such huge labor issues and hard feelings would not have been easy. I think they made a good decision. I believe the reason the workers are still picketing is so they can collect strike pay. Easy money now that the weather is getting warmer. I suspect the camaraderie is not what is was when the loud mouth know-it-alls talked the group into going out.
February 11, 2009 at 6:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biggunz says...
Smurfit Stone has been closing down plants all across Canada and United States. I was employed with Smurfit Stone, at the Whitby, Ontario plant in Canada, and we were also told that the plant was performing well and that there were no plans in the near future of closing. That all changed, not less then six months after hearing of the promising news. The employees were given sixty days notice, as minimum requirements by law in Ontario, Canada. If not for the laws, this company would have shut the plant down the next day. This kind of employer should not exist, and as far is I'm concerned, everyone employed with this firm should walk off the job, all in the same day and put this company out of business for good. Smurfit Stone has no consideration for human life. The closure of the Whitby plant was the best thing that could have happened to me. As I found out, there are appreciative employers out there who respect people, so if you're employed by this establishment, do yourself a favor by looking for alternate employment and quit working for these scum-bags.
February 11, 2009 at 12:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
heritage_sarahhochschwender says...
biggunz...... if every worker left it would not take a week to fill every single one of those empty positions. most people have more sense than to dismiss a relatively good job( especially for individuals who have no secondary education) in an economy like this.
February 11, 2009 at 1:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Union_man says...
HenryAllison----- Being a union official of a different local, I can say that with our union, we are working people just like the ones we represent. If they're on strike and not getting paid, we're on strike not getting paid. There may be some unions out there that pay their union officials regardless of the situation, but not all of them are like that. Most payroll comes from the members dues and if they're not paying dues, how will the officials be paid? I think people are so mislead by people such as you. Some people have had bad experiences with unions, so therefore, ALL unions are bad. Do you honestly think companies pay their employees and give them the benifits, such as paid holidays and vacation time, because they want to? No. The union has fought for these things. Just like they've fought for overtime, the 40 hour work week, better and safer working conditions. Unions do good if they're run right. Not all are run right, but not all are run wrong either. Please get your facts straight before getting on here and spouting off at the mouth.
February 11, 2009 at 3:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
recordsetter says...
My question to you njones60 When is a good time to strike??Is there ever really a good time to strike??Second,how do you call it bullying for when you are standing for what you believe in??Yes,maybe these employees made a bad decision on going on strike at this time,but it was our familys that suffered.All of the stone familys will make it.No one ever thought it would go to this,but it did.Look at the guy from Canda there Stone did not strike and look where he is at.With no job.I am so sorry to hear about your job also.We are all in this together.My husband worked for the Stone plant in St.Joe.So we know what you are going through.The thing is it is easy to make an opinion when your not going through this.When you are it is a whole new thing.To all the Stone familys I am so sorry,but faith will get us all through this.Good luck to everyone.
February 11, 2009 at 4:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
recordsetter says...
It is funny how the Union gets all the blame.The thing is I my husband is a worker and my father is a Union rep.The thing is it is not all the unions fault on this strike.I am not taking anyones side on this,but the union took the contract to the workers and asked them what they wanted to do.The worker chose to strike.So the union had to strike.It is no ones fault on either side cause no one thought it would come to this.The last strike the St.Joe plant had lasted for two days.I think they thought it would go the same way and they would be back in work the following week.It just did not go that way.It is a very sad thing,but everything will work out.Good luck Everyone!!
February 11, 2009 at 4:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
heritage_sarahhochschwender says...
how on earth can you all be saying " no one thought it would come to this." ? at least the group of workers who have been posting comments here on the NP all along had definite input from "outsiders" who tried to help make that point for you. it is a real pity you chose to ignore those who were standing beyond the situation, because we could see clearly that this was the inevitable result.
February 11, 2009 at 5:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
recordsetter says...
First of all we were already on strike by the time you all started making your comments on here. I hope there is opportunities for us to get a higher education. I am looking but I and finding it hard for myself to go to school and raise 2 kids. Yes you get to say ha-ha I told you so does that make you feel bigger or better than us? Whatever self gratifying steps you have to take to make it good for you! In my opinion it makes you look like a 3 year old. nananana booboo!
February 12, 2009 at 1:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
HenryAllison says...
Union_man,
Given your sobriquet, I guess it should not be surprising to find you toeing the party line.
In case I was not clear, when I referred to union "fat cats", I was not talking about the union stewards and reps working aside the rank and file in organized shops. I was talking about union officials employed by the trade union. Most of the types I'm talking about are second or third generation union employees, carrying on the family business so to speak. Maybe their grandfather was a working man who got into the labor movement but very few of the current crop have every held a labor-type job in their life, and their only concern for the working man is how his sweat can make their life better. Their power comes almost entirely from the threat of a work stoppage. Thus, ever so often, just so big business will take them seriously, they have to convince some dogface workers to throw themselves on their swords for the good of the union. And, if the strike goes bad like it did at Smurfit, well these union gomers can always consol themselves with some chateaubriand and a Jack Daniels on the union expense account.
With respect to the relevance of trade unions in the 21th century, you make my point for me. 40 hour work week? Standardized in 1938. Health and vacation benefits? I think you could argue the ball got rolling in the late 1940s with the return to the work force of WWII vets but the practice of increased employee benefits was firmly in place by the mid 1950s. As I acknowledged, once upon a time, unions worked hard for employee safety but the unions ceded that duty to the Federal government over 30 years ago. So the question remains "What do unions do today except suck the working man dry then throw him under the bus when it furthers the interests of the union?" Like the US auto and national transportation industries (not coincidentally industries linked very closely with trade unions) unions in the US have refused to adapt to a changing economic landscape, preferring to do business as usual, and thus sealing their eventual demise.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have never paid one nickel to a trade union nor, like the third generation union officials I describe above, ever held a manual labor job. Thus it is shocking to me that I should know more about the US trade union environment when compared to someone that should know everything about unions; someone like you Mr. Union Man.
February 12, 2009 at 8:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jayhawkbabe says...
I think the striking employess are getting what they deserve. They decided to strike because they were working too much in a time when people were and still are losing jobs left and right. They should have left well enough alone and just worked their too many hours and had a paycheck to take care of their families. I would love it if my husband would work "too many" hours. There are not many good paying jobs in St. Joe yet these employees decided to bite the hand that feeds them.
I hope they aren't offered any sort of severence package and won't be eligible for any unemployment benefits. That is just what they will deserve.
February 12, 2009 at 10:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
comment says...
"i hope they aren't offered any sort of severence package and won't be eligible for any unemployment benefits. that is just what they will deserve."
YOU jayhawkbabe, are heartless!
February 12, 2009 at 11:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Rax says...
Jayhawkbabe,
I couldn't agree more! In an economy such as this can you really work "too many hours"? Those of us in management work 60 hour weeks regularly and we do it without getting extra pay and small business owners rarely see less than a 60 hour week for years on end. I totally agree with you, they bit the hand that fed them and not surprisingly, it ended badly.
By the way Babe, how 'bout those TIGERS!!
February 12, 2009 at 3:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
recordsetter says...
To answer your question I can't sleep at night. I never said it was going to be easy but we will manage.
The raise wasn't the big issue. It was the fact that they were trying to make it to where we had no set schedule. The company was trying to manage by convenience by making rules such as we couldn't leave until our relief showed up. they had positions in the plant that could have easily filled in for missing people. Also in the past we had decent supervisors so we had no issues finding people to help them out. I did several times. I'm not saying all of them were bad just most of them. We were hoping if corporate saw what was happening they would do what they always did bring in new ones. The current management wanted to intimidate their way through the day. Do it or else! I think what happened honestly was everyone was just so mad at the way things were that a small flame in a corner turned into a blaze in the open. Anger and business just doesn't mix.
For those who think it is fun to rub our noses in the stink, do you honestly think we don't know what we did? Oh well you have your rights just like we did.
As far as what mike said production was not an issue the company had cut our hours down to 24 to 32 hours a week. They told us that we were running just as much as before they cut our hours we were just running better. I set either 3 or 4 new records for the plant in the last 3 months that we worked. We all believed that if we showed them that we can run the machines like that they would take care of us, but that was not the case. We were hard workers not just people skating by. We took a stand rolled the dice and hit the bricks
February 13, 2009 at 3:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
recordsetter says...
I've been there so long and was hanging in hoping it would get better. Like a old pair of jeans I wasn't ready to get rid of them yet. My choice got made for me
February 13, 2009 at 8:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Union_man says...
HenryAllison
I could argue back and forth all day, but I think we would both agree, we won't change the other's mind at all. I only have one question for you.
What have the "corporate fat cats" done is these changing economic times? Have they not conducted business as usual? Driving their respective companies into the ground, asking for government assistance, and having the "balls" to ask for their yearly bonuses. Why should the lower paid workers be the only ones to take cuts? The UAW went to the big auto makers and told them they would concede to a pay cut if the pay cuts worked their way all the way up to the top. If the workers agree to a 10% pay cut, why can't the greedy execs at the top do the same?
Ok, I know that's more than one question, but I think you get the point.
February 13, 2009 at 9:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
recordsetter says...
I totally agree with you Union_man.Thanks for the support.
February 13, 2009 at 1:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
recordsetter says...
The funny thing is I hear these guys and women getting the smack down for striking,but the thing is by them closing the St.Joe plant down the workers actually saved some of the jobs for other Smurfit plants.This was told to workers by the company.So if anything good came from this we saved some jobs.Doesn't do us any good but we all will make do.
February 13, 2009 at 2 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
recordsetter says...
The problem is Union_man most of these people commenting on here doesn't know anything about the union.To jayhawkbabe is your life really that bad you need to say just mean and hateful stuff.Maybe unstead of you commenting on us maybe you need to get some help for your self.Sorry if life is that bad for ya.The thing is everyone has a right to there opinions but when we have to sink that low it is pretty sad.
February 13, 2009 at 2:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
stjoereplant says...
recordsetter
I'm glad you have a positive attitude about the plant closing-st joe lost over 100 jobs so you could save jobs in other cities. Union workers know when they go out on strike there are two options- 1) they will get some of what they want, but never recover what they lost on strike, or 2) he company will simply say we've gotten a long without you this long, so we really don't need you anymore. I think I would rather take my chances with a weekend trip to Las Vegas!! In today's market, unions, for whatever they're worth in today's market situation,just need to keep what they have, and be happy!!
February 13, 2009 at 3:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
stjoereplant says...
Union_man
If you don't like the idea of the "fat-cats" getting a bonus, and the lower labor not, then maybe you should get an education and become a "fat-cat" yourself!!? What you're talking about is socialism-everyone getting the same pay, no matter what their responsibilities. That's not how capitalism works.If that were the case, there would be no need for schools of higher education, and we could save Billions in government grants and subsidies!!
February 13, 2009 at 3:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dalearch says...
stjoereplant:
Exactly.
February 13, 2009 at 4:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gg says...
Most of the time you see the top so called fat cats that is in office. Their dads made a name for them to live on. Most of them is like a box of rocks in there way of doing things. Watch the movie "W" and you can see what i am talking about. Or look at the plants that closed in this town. The boys took over after there dads left and ran the company out of business. Even when the working people, took a cut in pay to keep the plants open.
February 14, 2009 at 10:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gg says...
And there is some more. Most of there dads came out of being poor people, with no schooling. they had something that most of there kids or missing is guts. They worked hard to get what they had. And the boys played it all away.
February 14, 2009 at 11:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Roy says...
I wonder if the strikers will be calling the union to organize them at their new jobs? Place your bets.
February 18, 2009 at 3:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_O says...
Let those among us who have never made a bad decision, cast the first stone. I am praying for the workers without worrying who was right and who was wrong.
With FAITH. All things are possible!
Blessings
Steve-O
February 18, 2009 at 4:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )