Michael - Re: " I was informed today from a friend that Intel is closing it's Dupont Wa site. 400 people are being layed off"
I recall that Intel was shutting down an Assembly line in Dupont - but that was announced 9 months ago, to take effect by the end of this year.
The comment that the entire Dupont, Wa site is closing is WAY OFF the mark, I believe.
Paul
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INTEL CORP (Nasdaq: INTC)
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News May 29, 16:04 Eastern Time
May 29 (The News Tribune/KRTBN)--The assembly workers at Intel's DuPont plant were
shocked when told their jobs were being eliminated, but most of them seemed to be taking
the bad news in stride Thursday.
"I don't feel bitter toward Intel," said Sherrie Hall, who lives at Fort Lewis with her two sons
while her husband, and Army E5, is on duty in Korea. "You take chances when you work in
this industry."
Many workers interviewed for this story said they were confident the skills they acquired at
Intel will help them find new jobs quickly.
Hall and others were called together Wednesday late afternoon to hear the news that Intel
was shutting down the DuPont assembly line by the end of this year.
"They said they'd make every effort to help us find another job, either at some other Intel
site or elsewhere," she said. "They said their No. 1 priority is to help us find jobs."
Intel runs most of its assembly lines on 12-hour shifts, beginning and ending at 7 a.m. and
7 p.m. Dayside workers were sent home early on Wednesday, and nightside employees
were given virtually the entire shift off, with pay, after meeting to hear the company's official
notification.
"We were all pretty much in shock," Hall said.
Uncertainties are likely to remain high at the plant until July, when
Intel tells individual workers when their jobs will be eliminated.
But the announcement ended months of speculation as rumors circulated throughout the
plant, mostly predicting further cutbacks.
"This is one time when the actual news was worse than the rumors," said Don Sanford of
Roy, who has worked there since the plant opened in July 1996.
But he praised Intel for giving its employees extra training and teaching them to work well
on their own.
"Employers are always looking for people who are self-motivated and self-directed," Sanford
said, "and that's how we've been trained to work at Intel."
The rumors started in February, when Intel offers a severance package that included four
months' pay to workers who agreed to quit.
But some who took the offer, like Patty Fink of Tacoma, said they were disappointed to
learn that by accepting the package, they lost their right to unemployment benefits.
"I was getting unemployment," she said, "but now I've gotten a letter saying I've got to pay it
back because I didn't get laid off, I quit. I don't think that's fair."
Fink said she didn't think the company had been honest in describing the earlier severance
package.
But Thursday, with all 650 assembly workers facing layoffs, it was difficult finding any who
were critical of Intel.
Most took the position expressed by Carol Buck of Graham:
"Although this is a very frustrating situation to be in, I have
enjoyed working for Intel. It's been very rewarding, and if I was given
a chance to work for Intel again, I'd take it."
Charles Elmore, 47, of Parkland, was one of Intel's first DuPont employees. He helped build
the assembly lines and suspects his skills may make him among the last to leave.
"After all, somebody has to take those lines down," he said.
Like other workers, Elmore was shocked and saddened by the news.
"There was a lot of tears, a lot of hugging, a lot of people saying I'll see you in the
unemployment lines," he said.
But he also shared the feeling that Intel cared about its workers and wouldn't have shut
down the plant if there had been any alternative.
"It's still a great company," he said. "And we'll survive. I was looking for a job when I found
this one, and I'll find another one. The Lord will look after me."
By Mike Maharry
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