Workers say goodbye to SUV plant

Workers feel empty as they leave the plant for the last time.

MORAINE, Ohio (AP) — Autoworkers slipped in hugs, photos and goodbyes during breaks at a General Motors Corp. sport utility vehicle plant, which was to shut down Tuesday after 27 years of pumping out cars and trucks.

Many of the 1,080 , who were told in June that GM would close the plant in suburban Dayton because high gasoline prices were driving consumers away from the SUVs made there.

Outside the plant, Gaylen Turner, president of International Union of Electrical Workers Local 798, pointed to the many empty spaces in the employee parking lot.

“It was a sad, sad feeling for me to look over there and know that just a couple of years ago this was a thriving three-shift operation,” Turner said. “We stand here today with a plant that’s closing, with a deep, rich history. It’s sad for me, and I’m sure for everybody else in there to see it go.”

David Pryor said the closing of the plant, where both his father and grandfather had also worked, left him downhearted.

“It’s kind of upsetting,” said Pryor, 34, of West Carrollton. “Hopefully, I’ll get out and find something away from GM.”

On their final day, workers were assembling mostly white Chevrolet Trailblazers, said GM spokeswoman Courtney Strickler, adding that the final vehicle would be a GMC Envoy.

Strickler said the workers were doing their jobs, but also acknowledging the shutdown.

“They’re nostalgic,” Strickler said. “They’re taking pictures. They are giving each other hugs. A lot of talk, ‘What are you doing next?’”

Mark Krug, 50, of Vandalia left the plant Tuesday after finishing his production duties on the assembly line.

Krug said it was a little quieter on the plant floor than a normal day. He said he reflected on his 16-year career at the plant as he walked out the door for the last time.

“I felt like I accomplished something, but there was an emptiness,” he said. “We could have accomplished more if we had another product.”

About 50 union officials, city leaders and supporters gathered outside the plant to detail the impact of the closing. Several workers hoisted on their shoulders a black coffin.

“We’re here today to mourn for our brothers and sisters losing their job here,” said Wes Wells, executive director of the Dayton-Miami Valley AFL-CIO.

Wells said the plant at one time employed 4,200 workers. He said its closing will also affect the business of 102 Ohio suppliers, including 51 in the area.

Jim Clark, president of the IUE, said the closing is chilling the hearts of the workers’ families. He said the slumping economy will make it difficult for the workers to find jobs in the area.

GM’s SUV plant in Janesville, Wis., also was to close Tuesday, putting 1,200 workers out of work.

GM employed 19,000 workers in the Dayton area in 1999, before spinning off its Delphi supplier division. Tuesday’s closing of the SUV plant will leave 572 workers at a GM engine plant in Moraine the automaker owns jointly with Isuzu.