St. Cloud Electrolux Employees Prepare To Punch The Clock For Last Time
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (WCCO) -- For decades, the factory that anchored St. Cloud's west side was a weekly paycheck for hundreds of local workers. During its heyday the Electrolux plant employed close to 1,700 workers.
"My job was in the warehouse," Jaime Lopez said. He worked there nearly 17 years.
Now, people like Lopez have no choice but to find another way to make a living.
"It's a little bit complicated. I've been working a long time at this company, but that's okay. Right now, I'll look for another job," Lopez said.
On Friday, he and around 760 fellow Electrolux workers will punch the clock for the last time. The maker of upright freezers is closing the plant and consolidating work in a more modernized facility in South Carolina.
"Well, it's never a good thing," St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis said.
Kleis says the looming closure was known well in advance when the company announced its plans back in January 2018. With so many months to prepare several hundred have already left the factory and for others, job retraining and assistance has supported their future plans.
The mayor says if there is any silver lining to the closure, it's that the area's economy remains strong.
"One of the aspects of low unemployment is that there are a lot of employers. In fact, the number one thing I hear from employers is that we can't find workers," Kleis said.
Most of the laid off Electrolux employees are members of Local 623 of the International Association of Machinists. Their union contracts will assure they leave with severance, benefits and for many, a union pension.
"Some are devastated, they've known nothing else. Many came straight out of high school, with no college and straight to this shop at Electrolux," IAM Grand Lodge representative Geny Ulloa said.