04/09/2006

Former employees struggle to rebound

Settlement to be revealed to union members

By sheri mcwhirter

sherimcwhirter@hotmail.com

GAYLORD — A For Sale sign is in the front yard of Brian Wirgau's Gaylord home. He's inside, organizing a weekend moving sale.

Wirgau is one of 210 employees who lost their jobs at the Georgia-Pacific particle board factory in Gaylord when the plant closed a month ago. Wirgau hasn't found other work in northern Michigan since then and plans to migrate to the deep south.

"Nothing is shaking around here," he said.

Wirgau and his wife leave next week for a house-hunting mission to Florida, where he has two job interviews in the heating and air-conditioning industry. He just completed technical training for his new line of work, a career change he planned before the plant closed.

"It's too bad to do it this way. I'd rather have done it at our own leisure," Wirgau said.

He's not the only former Georgia-Pacific employee to turn attention toward a new life in a new place.

Jerry Ostrander of Gaylord said he and his wife, who both lost their jobs at Georgia-Pacific, also have had no luck finding other work, particularly manufacturing jobs.

"There's not a lot of those around here anymore," Ostrander said. "We're thinking about looking in another state."

Both Wirgau and Ostrander said they had hoped to stay in Gaylord.

The 167 hourly workers belong to the woodworking division of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local 166 in Gaylord. Union leaders negotiated a contract closure settlement this week with company officials.

"It was a one-day session, and they did come to an agreement," said Melodie Ruse, spokeswoman for Georgia-Pacific.

Union members will learn details of the settlement at a private 2 p.m. meeting today at the Eagles Club, 515 S. Wisconsin in Gaylord.

Terry Jans, union

president, would not disclose negotiation details, but said union members probably won't like the deal.

"You're never going to be pleased after a plant closes," he said. "I don't think they'll be happy with this."

Local officials estimate about $12 million in annual payroll will leave northern Michigan in the fallout, about $8 million in Otsego County alone. After the plant closure, more than 150 other local jobs were eliminated at companies that contracted with Georgia-Pacific.

The jobs at the factory made up more than 13 percent of the county's manufacturing sector.