The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 39

mm The news could have been worse, but not much: General Motors will shut down its Boxwood Road plant in 1996. What does it mean for the thousands of workers who will lose their jobs and a state that relies so heavily on the plant's presence? i i i Mnneo tflneim aumimiSslii smd feamr if 1 7 1 i i Many break into tears at the news i 14 Hi 1 II 111 II VW ft V-r--, -i v. LV I I fl i i By LAWRENCE HARDY, CRIS BARRISH and MARK MARYMONT ELSMERE The news brought shock, silence and tears. Hundreds of autoworkers had been told to meet on the floor of the tire building, part of the sprawling General Motors complex that has turned out cars for 45 years. They all knew the rumors.

The plant was old, and its Corsica and Beretta models weren't selling well. But few were prepared for the brief 10 a.m. announcement that the plant was shutting down in mid-1996. "It was silence," said Robert Densten, an electrician at the Boxwood Road plant for 10 years. "There were no jeers or heckles from the workers.

Just silence." A platform had been set up. The plant manager introduced a vice president "I can't even remember his name," Densten said who gave a short statement. He told them the news and praised them for their skill and dedication over the years. "Men and women were crying," said Jack H. Cordell, president of United Auto Workers Local 435.

Some workers' spouses came to the plant. Joyce Rendell, who said Special to The News JournalROBERT CRAIO GM employee Troy Jean with his wife, Debbie, an expectant mother, after learning GM's Boxwood Road plant will be shut down In 1996. Employee Antonio Fellclano calls home to tell his wife about the When Tom learned that the re-! porter interviewing him was driving a foreign car, he refused to give his last name. Others in the! bar also got upset and asked the reporter to leave. I Other workers were discussing the news in the tavern's parking See WORKERS here in '80, and it's always been our fault.

They blamed us for the high cost of the cars, the inadequate competitiveness and the lack of quality. All that matters is cutting numbers." Other workers felt betrayed by a public that bought foreign cars when American automakers were struggling. shift. Tom, a 29-year veteran of the plant, sipped a non-alcoholic beer and talked about the younger workers, many of whom have home mortgages, car payments and growing families. "The majority of these people are unskilled labor," he said.

"Where are they going to get a job?" her husband, Sam, has worked there for 40 years, said she didn't know much about the closing, "but my husband called me, so I came here. He doesn't say much of anything about it. I think he's kind of dumbfounded. We weren't really prepared for it." "I think there was a feeling of betrayal," Densten said. "I started "Buy American.

Bottom line," said a millwright sipping a non-alcoholic beer in Steve's Tavern near the plant. "I'll take this coat off, this shirt off, my T-shirt, my underwear and my shoes. Everything's made in the U.S.A. I work for GM, and I buy U.S.A." The bar began to fill up late in the day as workers got off the day The shutdown's spinoff effect Closing a mortal blow for Local 435 'A lot of people will really be injured' A lost GM lob would translate Into 1.6 more job- lod Ifi the surrounding economic $rea. Local GM suppliers who may be affected: Holtoway Brothers Tools HTecot Electric Supply Co.

3 Action Paper Chemical Co. 0A. Pomerantz Co. of Delaware BHyman Reiver Co. Kirk Plumbing and Heating Supply Co.

Shone Lumber and Building Material 3 Mammele's Paint and Decorating Center Delaware Seat Co. By CRIS BARRISH Staff reporter PRICES CORNER Jack H. president of United Auto Workers Local 435, got the call at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. An official at the General Motors' plant on Boxwood Road asked him to hurry over for an important meeting.

Cordell, whose union represents almost all of the plant's 3,500 workers, had a feeling the news would be the worst. He and a handful of plant officials were led into a conference room. Three executives from Michigan met them. 1 After pleasantries were exchanged, GM vice president Tom Davis dropped the bombshell. "They just laid it on the line," Cordell said.

"Davis came out and told us, 'At the end of the '96 model year, this plant will no lon- ytitMiti'ii That means when the 3,500 jobs are eliminated, Delaware could lose another 4,200 spinoff Jobs strumental in bringing one of GM's major "just-in-time" supple ers, Delaware Seat to the state in 1986. The state sponsored a job fair that produced 1,800 applicants for the 125 jobs offered by the Canaj dian-owned company, then pro vided a $700-per-employee train ing subsidy and granted temporary waiver of the gross rei ceipts tax to help the company, get under way. i The fortunes and schedules of Delaware Seat Co. are tied di' rectly to those of GM's Boxwood Road plant. As a Corisca or Beretta rolls out of the plant's paint shop, a signal is sent by compute to Delaware Seat to begin prepar) ing a specific seat for the automot bile.

There is a 4-hour "win dow." By the time the car reache the seat-installation slot on th assembly line, the seats are wait ing, manager Brian N. Rambo ex plained in a 1990 interview. Rambo was not availably Thursday, and no one elt.e at DeU aware Seat was authorized to comment on the GM The company is having problems of its own in contrac talks with United Auto Workers Local 2234, which this week hai threatened a walkout that would shut down the GM plant. While Tecot Electric abou 100 employees is fortunate te have other large customers -r "other automotives, chemicalb and refineries" a lot of other companies "will be scrambling to change their emphasis," said Sari zone. "It's a real shame a lot Yf people will really be By JANE BROOKS Staff reporter DOVER "GM does business with all segments of the local economy.

They're a real good customer I hate to see them go," said Vince Sanzone president of Tecot Electric Supply Co. The electrical wholesaler supplies items as simple as switches and as sophisticated as the equipment that "makes the robots think," said Sanzone. In return, the people at GM "know what they want, they pay on time and if you do a good job they come back to you," he said. Tecot Electric is one of an estimated 30 to 35 companies, ranging from janitorial supply firms to "just-in-time" manufacturers that account for between 3,500 and 4,000 spin-off jobs from GM's presence in Delaware. These indirect jobs create a payroll estimated at $70 million or more and combined tax revenues of about $10 million, said John J.

Casey director of the Delaware Development Office. "I'm devastated at the news blown away," Casey said. The state had "offered to assist GM in any way possible," said Casey, "but they told us there was nothing we could do it was an economic decision." GM officials acknowledged that the company had "overbuilt" and was attempting to offset its losses by cutting production from 6.7 million to 5.4 million vehicles annually, said Casey, "and unfortunately that means closing plants." The development office was in ger be A silence settled on the room. "It hit bad," he said later from his office on Old Capital Trail. "It shocked all of us.

I've said all along I didn't think they'd pick Wilmington. "The reason is they've got a good work force, a good working relationship between management and the union. If you have a plant with a lot of labor problems, I can see them shutting her down. Cordell asked why the plant was on the hit list. "Their answer to me was that there wasn't just one reason," he said.

"There were several issues why it was picked. One aspect was they were over-populating the market with cars. The age of the plant was one factor. But even though the plant was old, it was well kept over the years." Cordell asked what the union could offer to change the decision. "They said, "There's not anything you can do.

It's going to close and it's But I got hope. At least they gave us a 3 Vi -year notice. We've got 3Vj years for the economy to turn around and things to change." Cordell said a meeting Wednesday with Governor-elect Tom Carper and Gov. Michael Castle left him pessimistic. The two had met with Davis and other GM officials Tuesday in Detroit.

"They didn't have a good feeling about it. They said they could see a coldness there." He said the plant closing would doom the 26-year-old union. "Surest will kill us," Cordell said. Source: University of Delaware Bureau of Economic Research The News JournalDAN QARROW About 3,800 additional jobs in DeL will be lost suppliers in Delaware. Also, union contractors of almost every trade work on model changeovers.

In contrast, each job in Delaware's service sector creates just half a job in addition. Each job in the Du Pont Co. supports less than a single job outside. Without college degrees or entrepreneurial skills, "people losing jobs at GM would have a much more difficult time finding another job," said John Staple-ford, director of the University of Delaware'' Bureau of Economic Research. By DALE DALLABRIDA Staff reporter Cutting 3,500 jobs at General Motors Boxwood Road plant will mean the loss of an additional 3,840 Delaware jobs, economists say.

Partly because GM draws on scores of local suppliers, each job inside the plant supports another 1.2 spinoff jobs outside. Nearby businesses supply the factory with a variety of goods, from electrical parts to paper towels. The plant in 1991 purchased $12.9 nvUlion in products from 488 Special to The News JournalBIU HUGHES Uiiion leader Jack Cordell spent most of Thursday on the phone..