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Losing my job.....

NorthernRedneck

NorthernRedneck

Well-known member
......on January 31st.

I work in a plywood mill. The wood industry up here has taken a real beating the past couple years. Just this year alone, two lumber mills in my town, a paper mill two hours away, and a pulp mill three hours away have all closed down due to poor market conditions. Some have reopened only to shut down again a few months later. Been real hard times up here lately seeing as the whole area is dependant on the mills running. I'd say that half the population up here works in the wood industry and everything has come to a halt.

We stayed running throughout it all only scaling down to one shift for a month last christmas. This time, it's not looking good at all for the place to ever reopen.

Basically, what it boils down to is that we make a high quality indoor finishing plywood. Allot of high end furniture, cabinets, etc are made from our wood. We started making new products last year in the hope of cornering the market-so to speak. We were told that we were doing it successfully. For the first time in years, we had more orders than we could produce. Last week, they were even telling us that they'd like to start a thrid shift again. We had no indication that we would be closing indefinately until today. Heck, I heard it on the radio this morning before they even told us. KRUGER (he owns a bunch of mills including ours.....you can find his site on google) has been in secret negotiations with another plywood mill 6hrs away from ours. He apparently has bought 50% of the other plywood mill(our main competitor) and plans on using that mill to make all of the products we currently make. Thier reasoning behing this is that the other mill can make the same products as us at a profit.(which makes sense since they are very close to several OSB mills and can get their wood supply at a much lower cost) Our mill was built in '65 with mostly second hand equipement at the time and not much has been upgraded over the years.

So that means, they are shutting our mill down to focus their efforts on making the other one successful. That leaves me and 130 of my fellow employees out of a job. When I first started there, we had well over 350 employees.

It was a sad day at work today. Looks like I might be stuck going back to my old job which was an alright job if you can stand the BS the co-workers there put out.
 
You might have the answer right here.

Find a few of these unemployed guys who are craftsmen. Leverage the necessary machinery that is sitting idle and will be sold. Find a niche' product and build it better than anyone else.

I worked for a spectrometer company in the 1990s. The end-game was exactly the same as your experience.

The service department decided to walk out and form it's own corporation. Now the brass have to pay the same guys they were about to shaft.

You seem to care about your job and your co-workers. Don't break up a winning team.
 
Sorry to hear that Brian. With 130 of you hitting the streets at the same time I hope you can still get that old job back. Chico (The Tourist) had a good suggestion if you can see a way to make it happen. It sure would be worth it to control your own destiny by owning the business if that is feasible for you at this juncture.
Best wishes for you in whatever lies ahead. :thumb:
 
sorry to hear that Brian. My brother just shut down his machanic business. He finally found a job at a mine. He worked two days and then got layed off. Times are really tough right now.
 
Brian, I've gotten the axe a couple of times. Both turned out to be good deals, in a lot of ways. I know about limited opportunities in a smaller community, been there, done that, got the scars in my checkbook to prove it. Sometimes good fortune comes from a direction one isn't even looking at.
Good luck. I'm sorry for this turn of events.
 
About 30 years ago the town I lived in survived with jobs in the Phosphate mines. The mines started shutting down,and thousands of people were out of work. We thought it was going to be a ghost town. Our town started recruiting other big companies with new jobs. We went thru some hard times but was up and running with time. Now this town has grown by leaps and bounds. It's 5 times what it was.
I hope this happens for you too Brian.
 
Actually, just as it seems the forest industry in this area is coming to a close, there are a few mines that are in the beginning stages of opening. This area used to be saturated with gold mines back in the 40's and 50's. The mines all closed years ago but the old timers say they barely scratched the surface of what's down there in gold. A buddy of mine who I used to work with at the mill is now working for an exploration outfit that's been mapping out this area for future mining prospects. He says they've discovered 4 new veins of gold that were previously unknown and they are apparently way larger then the gold veins that were being mined back then. So, here's hoping something will turn around.

As for me though, I'm fairly certain I can get my old job back working for with the mentally and physically challenged. I did that for 7 yrs before going to the mill and every time they see me, they ask me if I want to come back. Plus, my wife has been working there now for twelve yrs. I would have had 15 yrs there if I didn't quit. I'm more worried about allot of my co-workers as many of them are getting up there in age but are still too young for retirement. Some of them have been there over 30 yrs since they got out of high school so its all they know.
 
I'm fairly certain things will work out for me but I'm not so sure about allot of the older guys at the mill as it's basically all they've known all their life. Still too young to retire but too old to pursue retraining for a new job.

It's only been 5 days now since we found out we'll be out of work and it looks like I may have 3-4 jobs lined up for when the mill closes up shop for good on the 31st of January. And here I was thinking I would get a month or so break this winter to get paid to sit at home.
 
Wish i had some magic words.....all i can do is wish you all the best and hope all works out.

Good luck Brian.
 
groomerguyNWO said:
It's only been 5 days now since we found out we'll be out of work and it looks like I may have 3-4 jobs lined up for when the mill closes up shop for good on the 31st of January. And here I was thinking I would get a month or so break this winter to get paid to sit at home.
Click to expand...

Was just going to wish you luck, but doesn't look like you need any! :thumb:
 
Well, I still need the luck for everything to fall into place nicely. I've already got a plan in the works but I can't do anything until we're officially done at the mill. I'll get on unemployment right away. Since I'm on unemployment, there's government $$$ available for re-training. I already enrolled this morning into a 5 week heavy equipement operator program at the college. I already have a class AZ license.(tractor trailer license with air brake endorsement) I also spoke to a local heavy equipment contractor(who, by the way, was a very good friend of mine all through school) about getting a job placement there once I'm done my training. They've got a bunch of gravel trucks, a few lowbeds, a bunch of loaders and excavators, 3 sand/plow trucks for the highways etc... See, there's also government $$$ available for wage subsidies for people who have just completed training and want to get a job in that feild. Most places up here won't hire anyone fresh out of school in that feild without any experience. But, with the government paying 60% of the wage, the companies usually go for that. It ends up being a one year job placement with 60%of the wage paid for by the government. So if I can do that, I'll finally get the transport experience I've been working on for 6 yrs now to get along with heavy equipement experience. That will drastically increase my chances in getting a job in that field next year.
 
Just a quick update.......

Looks like I might already have another job lined up as soon as I'm done at the end of January. I was kinda looking forward to having at least a couple weeks off but now, it looks like I'll be doing the following.....

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YUA0_rUteI"]YouTube - Wood Chip Hauler[/ame]
 
Today should be my last day of actual work. The mill must shut down in stages to empty out all the stocked wood inside. The machine I run works hand in hand with the dryers that dry the wood and they should be completly out of wood to dry sometime today and we will be only a couple hours behind it. The next two weeks should be long walking around with nothing to do at work but at least I'm still getting paid. They are keeping everyone there till the end.....Jan 30th.
 
you guys have white roads there!..............that looked like a not for fun job in my mind. dont like driving in snow
 
It's good they are keeping every-one on the payroll till the end, and you know it is closing. Not like a lot of places, where the employee's find out they do NOT have a job when they get to work one day, and the door or gate is locked.

That lift @ end of the video, they use they same type to un-load citrus fruit at a lot of they juice plants here in Florida!


Best of luck on your new job!
 
ddrane2115 said:
you guys have white roads there!..............that looked like a not for fun job in my mind. dont like driving in snow
Click to expand...

Yep!!!!! Heading right to our igloos.:yum:

Seriously though. That's what the bush roads looks like up here in the winter time. If you're lucky, the hills and corners are sanded. Some spots are pretty tight. The trucks meet in some places where the mirrors on each truck almost touch and there's only about a foot to the shoulder on each side. And they still meet doing about 40-50 mph. The odd one wipes out every now and then. It's what the main industry is, or should I say, was up here. It's either you work in a mill up here or you drive truck hauling wood to one of the mills. My whole family's been doing it for years. Dad had a few nasty wrecks in his day on those roads but still kept on truckin.

One time, he was coming down a hill with a load of wood. There's a one lane bridge at the bottom of the hill and you can't get stopped before you're on the bridge. Well, a grader was blocking the bridge and it's a 200ft drop on each side of the bridge down to the river below. He had to think fast......drive off the bank and get killed in the river or hit the grader???? The graders moves, so, hit the grader. He hit the back of the grader which totalled the front of the truck and pushed the engine right into the middle of the cab. He was alright though. it's a whole different ballgame driving those types of roads vs long haul on the highway.
 
Brian I am VERY VERY sorry to hear this. :( I just read it and I can obviously understand. I hope to God you get another job ASAP.
 
Don't worry too much about me. I know I can get my old job back tomorrow if I wanted to. I used to work with the mentally and physically challenged for nearly 8 yrs and they keep asking me if I want to go back. I have my reasons for not wanting to go back. Lots of politics and BS and back stabbing going on over there. It's always been that way at that place. My mother used to work there back in the eighties and it was that way then. Anytime you get more than a few women working together, there's bound to be allot of backstabbing going on. I liked the job but couldn't handle the BS I had to put up with from the co-workers.

For now, I plan on taking a break on unemployment for a bit then take a heavy equipment course, then try getting a job placement in that feild. I've already talked to a few local contrators around here and that's a real possibility since I already have my class A license to drive transports. The course will be held in the spring and I'm already signed up for it. Until then, I'll spend the rest of the winter out enjoying myself in the trail groomer for the snow club.
 
This will officially be the last week of operations for the mill I work at. It opened in 1966. I'm gonna miss the place.......I think anyways. The job itself is dirty, boring, and repetative. It the people I'm going to miss working with. Great bunch of guys(and a few gals in there too). That's going to be the hard part. When you work with 57 other co-workers day in, day out for any length of time, you develop freindships that extend beyond a co-worker releationship. After this week, we will all go our seperate ways. Many will be moving away and I may never see many of my coworkers again. You kind of make a second family at work and then when it's taken away, it leaves a void.

One by one, the different machines throughout the mill have shut down for the last time last week leaving only a couple of machines left running this week. Windows are being boarded up, lockers are being torn down, every nook and cranny is being sealed up. It's kind of emotional watching it all unfold knowing the history of the mill. We've all been sharing our own stories over the past week about that place. Some of the guys have been there since the place opened. They are taking it pretty hard. It's all they've ever known. They've worked with the same group of guys for over 30 yrs and now, they may never see some of them again.
 
That has to really suck. But it sounds like you have some good opportunities out there. Good Luck, Brian.:smile:
 
I took a few pictures of the place tonight just for memories. Tonight's shift was a long one. We did absolutely nothing. All of the cleanup is done. There's only one machine left running. We all just walked around, talked up a storm, shared memories.

first picture - My most recent jobsite. It's called a veneer patcher. Here, loads of 4x4 ft veneer are placed on our hoist. We look over each sheet of veneer and upgrade it to the highest grade possible. The machine looks much like an oversized sewing machine. I position the sheet on the patcher so that the defect(knot hole) is in line with the patcher head, then press of a foot pedal. The patcher head comes down, cuts out the defect and places a solid patch in its place. There are five patching machines in a line. The patched veneer is placed on a set of belts were it goes to a rotating wheel and is sorted and stacked. There are 4 main grades we go by.

second picture - One of the machines I operated quite frequently called a veneer dryer. Sheets of wet 4x8 veneer are fed into the dryer 3 sheets at a time. This dryer has four levels and processes roughly 5200 sheets of veneer in an 8 hour shift. We call it the "Big dryer" since it is longer than the other one and processes more veneer. When the sheets come out the other end, they travel down a set of belts where we grade them and place them into their appropriate buggies. There are 6 grades used at the dryer to sort the veneer. There are three people working at this dryer normally. One feeding the veneer and two sorting and piling.

third and fourth picture - infeed and outfeed of the small dryer. I ran this dryer for 4 yrs. There is usually only two people working this dryer. One at the infeed feeding the veneer and another at the outfeed sorting and piling the veneer.

fifth picture - The final step before the plywood is shipped out called the "Gradeline". I worked here on occassion for a few months here and there. Loads of plywood are placed on the infeed of the gradeline. Each panel in every load passes by an operator in a both who looks for any kind of defects in the panel. The panels are then graded as either ongrade, shop, or blisters. Once a load of panels reaches the correct number of panels in the order for that load, the gradeline operator lowers the hoist and the load comes out. Once it's out, I mark it with ink rollers identifying a number of things such as the species, grade, where it was made etc. I place a cardboard cover over the load and strap it up with three metal straps. The load is now ready to be shipped to the customer.


There are many other steps involved in making plywood. If you are interested, I could start another thread elsewhere on this topic describing the start to finish process of making plywood. I just thought I'd share a bit of what my job entailed working in a plywood mill. We made all high end cabinetry plywood. Companies would buy the plywood from us and use it to make allot of high end furniture and cabinetry and such.
 

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Well, the day is finally here. Kinda sad really. We haven't done much at work this week except walk around and talk to each other sharing memories about the place. It's a combination of factors that led to our mill closing but it all boils down to poor management. For the past year, we've been running on limited manpower at 130 workers. But, we still had 43 office staff. Do the math if you wish. Not hard to figure out. They were supposed to do some major upgrades years ago to keep up with emission outputs from the stack outside but kept putting it off even though the $$$ was there to do it. Over the years, they made as few upgrades to the place as possible. They had the chance several times to put in a co-generation plant(power plant) but never did. That would have basically eliminated all the utilities costs for the mill. Yep, gonna be a sad shift. Even last night, guys were starting to choke back the tears. It's a crappy place to work at but we are all like a second family there. That's the part I'll miss the most.

On a humorous note though.......Our mill is named Longlac Wood Industries. It is being merged with Cochrane wood products........what's the result????????












Longcoch Wood Industries!!!!!!!!!
 
Can you open your own business with your expertise?
Hope something comes along.
 
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