Plant workers learn of shut down date

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. - Close to 200 workers at a Noblesville manufacturing plant found out the facility will shut down for good in June. The employees work at the Firestone Industrial Products Plant.

Last year, Firestone said it planned to shut down the plant. Now workers know exactly when and the reality is staring them in the face.

"We know it’s going to close, and it’s hard. It’s going to be hard at the end," said employee Penny Thomas.

The plant opened in 1936. Over the years it produced everything from tires to tank treads. It now produces air springs.

Bert Pitts worked at the plant for more than 21 years. He said 1,200 people once worked there and it even used to be hard to find a spot in the company parking lot.

"Now you see how empty it is. So everything is going to hell, I guess," said Pitts. "Oh, I hate to see it to be honest with you."

According to the union, Firestone said the Noblesville plant can’t compete with its plants in Brazil, Poland, China and Costa Rica.

Tim Cottrell of the Steelworkers Union Local 138 said, "The working folks of this country have just been taken advantage of. They’ve mined it out for what they can get. Once you got all you can get, let’s just move it somewhere else and do the same thing."

The June 26 closing date gives employees time to search for new jobs. Unemployment experts with Indiana’s Department of Workforce Development will also provide support.

"Then we also get into the retraining opportunities that might be available to them and get them hooked into the job web bank that the state operates, Indiana Career Connect," said Marc Lotter of workforce development.

Employees like Kevin Brown wonder if it will be enough.

"When you’re my age, I’m 50 and too old to go back to school," said Brown. "It’s a worry, it takes a toll on the family. I’ve got kids. Reality is starting to hit right now."

According to the local Steelworkers Union, the plant employed 239 employees at the beginning of the year, 40 were laid off in January. Seventy-nine more will be laid off in April and the remainder will help shut down the plant.

24-Hour News 8 contacted Firestone. The company would only confirm the June 26 closing date.