Tuesday, July 29, 2003

Working for each other
Pillowtex employees seek help for furloughed co-workers
By Michael Roessler

Independent Tribune-Greater Cabarrus County

Local Pillowtex Corp. workers are reaching out to each other and asking for the community’s help to meet the needs of those who have been out of work for weeks.
A group from the local Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE), which represents Pillowtex employees, will meet today to discuss how to collect money and supplies for company employees and distribute them to those in need.

“We’ll probably start with the hardest hit, but eventually it will trickle into everyone,” said Delores Gambrell, a local union representative and Pillowtex employee in Salisbury. Families with children will likely be the first to receive assistance, she said. The group will collect money, food, school supplies and other items to donate to workers in need.

We’ll take any help anyone wants to give,” Gambrell said. “We’re getting phone calls from companies all around who want to donate,” she said. “It’s coming from all over.” Ministers at some area churches will also begin collecting for Pillowtex families, she said. Many local Pillowtex workers have been out of work for weeks while the company tries to keep its doors open and meet the terms of loans that helped it escape bankruptcy. Chris Chafe, UNITE’s political and legislative director, said Tuesday there is widespread worry among local Pillowtex workers and local union members.

“There’s significant anxiety, tremendous anxiety,” he said. “They’re concerned about being able to pay their mortgage. They’re concerned about health care. They’re concerned about the future of the company,” he said. Chafe also praised local workers. “They are extremely strong people. They’re people of great faith, but they are undergoing a tremendous struggle to make their way in these times,” he said. Bruce Raynor, UNITE’s president, criticized the government for endorsing free trade agreements that have taken textile jobs out of the country in a Monday press release.

“Like the 735,000 textile and apparel workers who have lost their jobs since NAFTA was enacted nine years ago, they remain frustrated that their own government continues to pass trade legislation that undercuts their industry, the standards on their job and their capacity to compete in the global market,” said Bruce Raynor, president of UNITE.

Cari Boyce, communications director for Gov. Mike Easley, said Tuesday that a representative of the governor’s office videotaped several testimonials from local textile workers to be sent to the president.

She said Easley “thought that it might be beneficial to hear directly from some of the people” whose jobs are being lost to textile operations in other countries. The videos should be sent to the president this week, she said.

Charles Page, CEO Cool Spring Center
facilitates Pillowtex meetings