|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
March 12, 2006Former plant workers face uncertain futureGeorgia-Pacific closure left 210 looking for jobs
Former Georgia-Pacific factory worker Brennan Perlinkski chats with former co-workers Kim and Jerry Ostrander outside the Gaylord office of Michigan Works. "The sunken feeling has not set in yet," said Brennan Perlinski of Gaylord, among 210 full-time factory workers who lost their jobs last week when the particle board plant in Otsego County's Bagley Township unexpectedly and permanently closed. He smoked a cigarette outside the state agency's downtown Gaylord office, a site designed to help displaced workers find another job or receive training for other types of work. It wasn't long before Perlinski noticed familiar faces, like those of former co-workers Jerry and Kim Ostrander, who also came to get started on a job hunt. The Ostranders face an extra challenge, as their combined earned income was reduced to zero on one day. They worry about how their lives may change and what effect it may have on their teen daughter, Ashley. "It's just that you're stepping out of your comfort zone," Jerry Ostrander said. "It's hard to cope with." Kim Ostrander spent eight years as a factory worker and said she's thinking about attending a new cosmetology school that's coming to Gaylord. Her husband worked at the particle board plant for more than 17 years. The Ostranders said they may try to transfer to another Georgia-Pacific facility, but would prefer to keep their home in Gaylord and stay at least long enough for their daughter to graduate from high school. Ashley Ostrander, 16, said she's afraid that may not happen. "All my friends are telling me that if my parents move, I can couch-surf," she said in an anxious tone. On another side of Gaylord, Brian Wirgau stands in the kitchen of a house he and his wife built 10 years ago. Wirgau thinks he's better positioned than many of his former co-workers, who were hired straight out of high school. He's nearing completion of a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning course at the Michigan Technical Education Center in Gaylord and said the layoff will expedite his plans for a different career. He's anxious to find other work in the meantime. "I haven't been unemployed in umpteen years. I've always had a job," Wirgau said. He already has more than a dozen applications in a stack on the counter, many for entry-level salaries. He said his family may have to relocate if he can't find a job that pays well enough. "It's just upsetting to have to uproot. If it doesn't gel, we have to move. We have no choice. It's a sink-or-swim thing," Wirgau said. He said his wife cried all day Monday after the plant closed and his 17-year-old daughter has been melancholy and quiet all week. Michigan Works area manager Tamara Ward said her employees busied themselves last week answering questions and helping laid-off workers with resumes and job leads. The state has a separate unemployment program, she said, adding that she hopes as many of the former Georgia-Pacific employees as possible can remain in Otsego County.
|
|
