Just off the Interstate 291 exit onto Route 5 in South Windsor, an empty factory serves as a memorial to the hardship the Great Recession has brought to Connecticut’s blue collar workers.
The plant, owned by metal forming company Mestek Inc., closed up shop in October, squeezing 61 hourly employees and 20 salaried workers out of their jobs.
“Some people put in a lot of years there,” said Everett Corey, directing business representative for the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers District 26, which represented the Mestek workers. “They knew there were problems, but they were shocked that they decided to close it down.”
Some former Mestek employees have found new jobs; some haven’t, Corey said.
Mestek is just one example of a classic business dilemma that’s played out along US 5 and elsewhere across the region.
As demand for their products and services slipped over the past two years, employers faced the tough decision to lay off their workers. While the move would cut expenses in the short term and keep failing businesses afloat, the employees have more institutional knowledge and expertise than any new workers the company would hire when revenues rise.
Some have laid off their workers; some haven’t.
Nearly 20,000 Connecticut manufacturing employees have lost their jobs in the past 24 months, which is more than 8 percent of the workforce, according to the 2011 Connecticut Manufacturers Register.
The manufacturing sectors hit hardest are printing and publishing, down 16.1 percent; paper products, down 11.3 percent, rubber/plastics, down 7.4 percent; and chemicals, down 6.1 percent.
The aerospace industry isn’t coming to O&W Heat Treat, Inc. on Route 5 in South Windsor much anymore for its metallurgical processing of aircraft components, said Pat Ohlheiser, company president. Although there have been some signs production might pick up, there has yet to be a positive trend indicating a full recovery.
“The airlines aren’t buying as many airplanes, and the military has not been buying as many airplanes,” Ohlheiser said.
Instead of laying off any of its 15 employees, O&W choose to cut back on its workforce hours, eliminating overtime. The workers still are full-time, but their paychecks have been reduced.
Other companies in the industry laid off their workers and imposed long furloughs, but O&W wouldn’t go to those lengths because it makes more sense over the long term to keep workers employed, Ohlheiser said. The employees appreciate the gesture, and their skills will keep the company strong beyond the recession.
“It is a source of pride because we are a family company,” Ohlheiser said.
New England Silica, Inc. on Route 5 in South Windsor had to lay off two people from its lawn and garden hardscape business in 2008. It was the winter, the economy tanked, business was slow, and the company had to work hard to get the business that was out there, owner Bob Bellody said.
Those employees were hired back in the spring as soon as business picked up in the warm weather.
“If you have good people, you want to hang onto them,” Bellody said.
As Connecticut emerges from the recession, Corey expressed hope more businesses will recall their laid off workers and maybe hire some new ones. Corey’s union represents more than 7,000 machinists and aerospace workers in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
One Connecticut company — extrusion system manufacturer Davis-Standard in Pawcatuck — has already recalled all of its laid off employees and is now seeking new hires.
“A lot of our shops are recalling for the first time in a long time,” Corey said. “It looks like the economy is turning around a bit.”
