The weekend of Dec. 17-19, many Climco workers (Plant 1) went through everyday life preparing for the holidays. Monday, Dec. 20 came, and we resumed work as normal. One hour into our day, a rumor spread through the factory: We were losing our jobs.

The owner of Climco Coils, Scott Selmon, sold the business (just Plant 1 located on Oakwood Drive; the building not sold). We make many ignition coils, sold to many different suppliers. We all knew the economy was bad, but the closing of our plant was a shock.

We asked many questions: When are we done? Do we have insurance? What happens to our vacation time? Many of us had already scheduled time off for the holidays. We were told someone would be in at 1 p.m. to talk to us (5 hours after we heard the rumor).

Scott Selmon arrived at 1 p.m. He stood before us to tell us we were done with Climco Coils as of Dec. 17; this was Dec. 20. We learned that people carrying insurance no longer had it; it was also terminated on the 17th. Our last check from Climco would be issued on Dec. 23, including any vacation time not used.

Then we were told that we had worked the morning (6 hours) for a temp service and denying to sign with them would cost us our unemployment benefits. This temp service will handle paychecks and insurance until the jobs are moved out; 60 to 90 days – a lot to take 5 days before Christmas. Wow.

Many of the employees at Plant 1 are what you would call the “veterans of Climco.” Some worked there when Bob Collins and Tina Klimstra owned the business. We have 27 employees with 5 percent having fewer than 10 years; the rest of us 10, 20, 30 and 41 years.

We have stuck through many tough times with Climco. Our work hours were reduced from 40 hours to 32 hours (affecting vacation time accrued), wages and benefits being taken as disciplinary measures (yes, disciplinary). That was our thanks for our dedication to the company.

Scott told us that if we would like to apply at Plant 2 (located at the Industrial Park), he would consider our application. We would be considered a new hire with no seniority transferred or wages. Many people at Plant 2 have less time than we do or are still casual workers (workers with no benefits). Are you seeing the trend?

Plant 2 has hired since Dec. 17 and has run ads for employment. Seniority should play a part. Are we losing our jobs because of our benefits and wages? Scott said, “Sorry, nothing personal.”

We are only 27 people. Could it not have been a little more personal? Could it have been handled a little differently? Letting us know before we were terminated, families’ insurances canceled, or letting us know first thing Monday who we were working for.

Thanks for reading our side.

Note to readers – Melanie Weeks has 19 years of service and Mindy Remmers has 13 years of service with Climco. The letter also included 20 signatures of other employees and their service years.