Why Flint is such a hard place
21 Feb, 2009 01:02 AM
Two days before Christmas, Brian Sassman, 25 and a father of two, arrived for work in Peoria, Illinois. "They had 36 of us picked out. Our time cards were missing, and we went into the office and they were laying us off with no warning," he recalls from behind the wheel of the taxi he now drives along Peoria's wide streets.
His former employer makes ladders for Caterpillar, the heavy machinery company that is the lifeblood of this city of 350,000.
"We were told it was because they had lost the business with Caterpillar - because of Caterpillar losing so many jobs," Sassman says. He considers himself lucky to have found work as a taxi driver, even though the money is a fraction of his welder's wage.
Since Christmas the city has been rocked by news that Caterpillar will lay off 20,000 blue collar workers and 5000 managers and support staff, nearly a quarter of its 112,000 global workforce.
For Peoria, where 10 per cent of all jobs are directly with Caterpillar, the news is devastating. Everywhere one goes in Peoria, the CAT logo and Caterpillar yellow adorn buildings and factories, clothing and bumper stickers. Of the 20,000 Caterpillar workers in greater Peoria, probably 30 per cent will go.
And that's only the first-round effects. Most other manufacturing firms in Peoria are linked to the Caterpillar supply chain: among them the fabricating company Sassman worked for, engineering and cleaning firms and facilities managers. Then there are restaurants and other small businesses that make Peoria a metropolis.
"This town revolves around Caterpillar," says Jim Ardis, the city's mayor. "Having the headquarters of a Fortune 50 company that does business around the globe is huge. Everything that Peoria has been able to accomplish is attributable, in my opinion, to Caterpillar being here."
The Caterpillar jobs were well rewarded. Even in good times, a person leaving Caterpillar would struggle to find similar pay, despite the city's attempts to diversify into education and health care, Ardis says.
His former employer makes ladders for Caterpillar, the heavy machinery company that is the lifeblood of this city of 350,000.
"We were told it was because they had lost the business with Caterpillar - because of Caterpillar losing so many jobs," Sassman says. He considers himself lucky to have found work as a taxi driver, even though the money is a fraction of his welder's wage.
Since Christmas the city has been rocked by news that Caterpillar will lay off 20,000 blue collar workers and 5000 managers and support staff, nearly a quarter of its 112,000 global workforce.
For Peoria, where 10 per cent of all jobs are directly with Caterpillar, the news is devastating. Everywhere one goes in Peoria, the CAT logo and Caterpillar yellow adorn buildings and factories, clothing and bumper stickers. Of the 20,000 Caterpillar workers in greater Peoria, probably 30 per cent will go.
And that's only the first-round effects. Most other manufacturing firms in Peoria are linked to the Caterpillar supply chain: among them the fabricating company Sassman worked for, engineering and cleaning firms and facilities managers. Then there are restaurants and other small businesses that make Peoria a metropolis.
"This town revolves around Caterpillar," says Jim Ardis, the city's mayor. "Having the headquarters of a Fortune 50 company that does business around the globe is huge. Everything that Peoria has been able to accomplish is attributable, in my opinion, to Caterpillar being here."
The Caterpillar jobs were well rewarded. Even in good times, a person leaving Caterpillar would struggle to find similar pay, despite the city's attempts to diversify into education and health care, Ardis says.
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