Blount County losing 200 jobs at Rubbermaid (Maryville, Vonore: budget, vacation, house)

[SmokyMtnGal]

A Blount County Employer, Rubbermaid, is laying off 200 workers.

Newell Rubbermaid eliminates 200 jobs

Best wishes to those affected.

[Eat]

SMG, the link is dead.

[SmokyMtnGal]

Here's a new link; that one must have just been for breaking news.

Newell Rubbermaid eliminates 200 jobs

[bbkaren]

Seems like the company is offering a very fair severance package; still, I hope these folks can find new jobs in short order without too much disruption to themselves and their families.

Times really are tough all over right now, and the hard times don't seem to discriminate. We've got lots of people losing their jobs around here too.

[Eat]

Thanks, SMG.

I knew something was up with Rubbermaid several years ago. Their products used to be absolutely top notch, then quality started slipping. We have been burned a couple of times by them. We no longer automatically buy the Rubbermaid brand, but now look very, very carefully at the products. We usually buy a different brand, these days.

When I saw that the link referred to Newell Rubbermaid, it explained a lot. I Googled for information on the combined company. This Wikipedia entry has quite a bit of information.

It's a real shame those employees got caught up in it.

[KatanaBC]

This does not surprise me at all. I worked at Rubbermaid from 2003-2006. Even then things were very shaky. They are not at all beyond shutting a plant down completely if they feel it will save them a few dollars. The article mentioned the plant shut down in Europe, but didn't mention Madison, WI. In 2006, Rubbermaid shut down a plant the size of the Maryville facility with just a few months notice to all their employees. The moved the machinery and production from Madison to Maryville just in time for the back-to-school rush that year. What a mess! Madison had been working months without any days off to ramp up production so Maryville would have the product to ship out for back-to-school. Problem was, we didn't have the warehouse space to store the stuff. They ended up renting an outside warehouse in Vonore and paying a trucking company to run shuttles to/from Vonore to store and retrieve the needed products. After working all those days with no time off, the Madison folks were laid off. Maryville distribution center employees worked all summer in 100+ warehouse temperatures with a total of 6 days off (for 3 months). No vacation days were allowed, regardless of the reason. We were in the middle of buying our house when the announcement was made... I had to go through three levels of management to get approval to use a vacation day to close. A co-worker had to postpone her wedding three months to be able to go on her honeymoon. For giving up our entire summer, we got one extra vacation day to use the remaining 4 months of the year we were allowed to use them. Many families were forced to change their plans and parents had to work the entire time their kids were off for summer break. Many managers were getting fired, Sanford was bringing people in from other plants and other countries to tell us how to better do our jobs... after spending 30 minutes asking how we did our jobs. I put up with the crap, but finally called it quits when they decided to change our Christmas holiday schedule on a whim while I was on vacation and refuse my Holiday pay because I didn't come back on the day I was "supposed" to return.
It wouldn't surprise me in the least if they shut the plant down completely by the end of next year. None of the people who actually had ties with the employees there... cared about them and their families... are still there. They all got fired or quit because of the way things were being handled. I refuse to buy anything made by Newell Rubbermaid anymore... this includes Sanford, PaperMate, Liquid Paper, Uniball, Eldon, and alot of Office Max, Office Depot and Staples branded storage totes and letter trays. They have no respect for the people working in their facilities making this stuff.
I only hope they stick to their word about helping them get jobs.

[BarbG]

I can vouch for what Katana said.

My husband works there, he's not affected by the layoff because he's not in manufacturing. I remember the summer with virtually no days off, it was a killer. And since I'm an accountant, I couldn't help but think what lousy management there was for the whole thing. The budget had to be completely blown out of the water. How do you make a profit when you are paying double-time for Sundays every week?!

My DH is going to get his resume together and just kinda look around. He's in no hurry at this point, but like Katana, I believe the plant is on it's way to either a complete shut-down or a shut-down of the entire manufacturing side, at the very least. The only way shipping and receiving will survive is if they need the hub and storage for the products.

He will not get a job in a manufacturing plant again. Manufacturing in the US is on it's way to a painful death, sadly. Please keep the people losing their jobs in your prayers.