In July 2003, Mary Clark saw a notice posted by the time-clock at the Pillowtex plant where she worked: The plant was closing down at the end of the month. The company would be laying off 4,000 workers. "They acted like we were nobody," she said; Pillowtex even canceled the workers' accrued vacation days. Clark had worked at the textile plant in Eden, North Carolina, for 11 years, inspecting, tagging and bagging comforters. By 2003, she was earning more than $10 an hour.
Clark's unemployment benefits don't cover her bills. Because Pillowtex had sent her and her coworkers home frequently for lack of work in the final year, her unemployment checks are low, based on that last year's reduced earnings. She lost her health coverage, and now she needs dental work that she cannot afford.
| Tiffany B. Brown of blackfeminism.org hipped us to Betsy Leondar-Wright's timely Dollars And Sense (via Alternet) article "Black Job Loss Déjà Vu"
posted in articles on June 8, 2004 3:43 PM | t (0)
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