By Mike Matejka
The Mitsubishi closing announcement this past week was sad news for our community. The economic impact of the jobs lost, but also the lives disrupted, will unfold in the coming months.
When Mitsubishi came here as Diamond-Star Motors in 1985, it was a real economic boost. We often forget we are more than just the universities and insurance companies. The Eureka Company, Modine and General Electric all once had industrial jobs in our community, where a worker could find employment with a living wage and benefits. As those workplaces closed or went overseas, Mitsubishi provided the industrial jobs the community was losing.
We also forget that it has often been a roller coaster ride at the auto plant. At one time three shifts were going strong and Mitsubishi cars were selling well. That market collapsed, the recession hit and very few cars were made, but the doors stayed open. The retooling and the retrofitting to produce the Outlander looked like a winner and a chance for the plant to rebound.
Losing a job is never easy; many Mitsubishi workers landed here after other layoffs, not only in McLean County, but from throughout Central Illinois. If you talk to plant workers, it is not hard to find someone who worked for Caterpillar, John Deere are another auto maker. Mitsubishi became their second chance.
Many plant workers are in their 50s, with over twenty years at the auto plant. That is a difficult age for retraining and finding a new job. Many employers won’t look twice at an older worker and they will get passed over for the younger applicant. As a community, this is more than lost income. This is families who have invested in homes, send their children and grandchildren to area schools, these are our neighbors.
We need to pull together to support these workers. They have played by the rules, built a quality product and taken pride in their job and their union. United Auto Workers Local 2488 has been very generous, helping support many local charities and causes. Now larger international market forces are uprooting their lives. Moral support, job opportunities and a helping and gracious hand are all going to be needed. Let’s honor these workers and give them the support they will need.
Mike Matejka is the Governmental Affairs director for the Great Plains Laborers District Council, covering 11,000 union Laborers in northern Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. He lives in Bloomington with his wife and daughter and their two dogs. He served on the Bloomington City Council for 18 years, is a past president of the McLean County Historical Society and Vice-President of the Illinois Labor History Society.
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