Manchester Has Less Than Two Months to Prepare.

By Rebecca Kaufman on Wednesday, December 24, 2003.

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The Jac Pac plant in Manchester has served as the city's largest employer of low-skilled workers for years.

People who didn't qualify for other blue collar jobs could often find work on the JAC PAC assembly line.

Often those people were newly arrived immigrants.

But the plant's owners, Tyson Foods has announced they will close their doors in early February.

400 Manchester residents will soon be out of work.

And city agencies are scrambling to prepare for what may follow.

New Hampshire Public Radio's Rebecca Kaufman has more

When Tyson announced it was closing the JAC PAC Plant, Manchester social service organizations scrambled.

Manchester Mayor Bob Baines.

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:44 obviously we are gong to do our best to provide whatever services and support we can for these workers, weï¿½re pulling out all the stops in terms of all the agencies that all available to assist them, weï¿½re also continuing to work with JAC PAC and the management at the national level

One major concern is the make-up of Jac Pacï¿½s workforce.

Nearly one-third are immigrants and 9 different languages are spoken on the factory floor.

Jane Hills from the Economic Development Office in Manchester says the lack of English language skills will make finding other work pretty tough.

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1:25 it will be difficult for them, in the short run, to find another job, the city has a relatively low unemployment rate but many of the jobs available are not suitable for the skill levels of the people that work at the JAC PAC Tyson plant.

In cities all across the United States, manufacturers are closing up shop and Manchester is no different.

Jane Hills says the manufacturing jobs that could have absorbed Jac Pac workers no longer exist.

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3:04 an example is the Sweetheart cup company that hired again about the same skill level and hired a lot of immigrants and they left Manchester about a year and a half ago, so those jobs are gone

When Sweetheart Cup decided to close, the company phased out the jobs over a few months.

Unless JAC PAC workers can find something before the plant closes, all 550 employees will be jobless on the same day.

Hills says that presents another problem.

1:35 that type of work has a high turnover rate so my guess would be that a substantial amount of people who work there donï¿½t qualify for unemployment benefits.

If they donï¿½t qualify for unemployment, for many, the next stop is the welfare department.

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1: 23 as far as what the impact is going to be, depending on the number of workers laid of at Jac Pac, weï¿½re already stretched to the maximum

Paul Martineau is Manchesterï¿½s Welfare Commissioner.

In addition to strains on their resources, he has other concernsï¿½like how they will help people who donï¿½t speak English fill out application forms.

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2:16 thereï¿½s gonna be interpreters that get involved because all these places says you have to fill out employment applications, in our case assistance applications, those things have to be worked out, thereï¿½s a lot of balls just floating in the air, being juggled right now

The average worker at Jac Pac makes 8 to 9 dollars an hour.

Itï¿½s not a great salary, but they do have health benefits.

Without that insurance, local hospitals, the cityï¿½s health department and not-for-profits like Child Health Services could see an influx of people.

And some, like Jane Hills from Manchesterï¿½s Economic Development Office, are worried about health issues go beyond what brings people to the emergency room.

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2:17 when you get people who are out of work the frustration level is high and you get increase alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic abuse, crime perhaps, so it could be some serious effects on the city.

Some signs of mental distress have already been noted.

In recent meetings between Jac Pac and social service groups, plant managers said they are facing resentment from workers.

Brother Paul Crawford from New Hampshire Catholic Charities was at that meeting.

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:43 people are angry, they are confrontational, they are yelling, I guess the shock of being told they are out of work, its part of giving up and moving on

Brother Crawford says he also is putting pressure on Tyson for a community severance package that may help some of these cash strapped organizations.

Tyson spokesmen Ed Nicholson did not say what kind of specific assistance the company would provide other than locating jobs.

3:23 weï¿½ll be working with the authorities to identity opportunities but within the company and outside the company

Recently, the union negotiated for 2 to 6 weeks severance pay based on the length of employment.

Brother Crawford argues that it would serve the company well to leave a good reputation behind.

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:52 It was so interesting, I went out to dinner the other night and somebody at the restaurant asked if the meat was from Tyson so I thought it was very interesting that somebody that was not involved was asking this questionï¿½

Brother Crawford says the Manchester community is taking notice.

But Jane Hills from Economic Development believes most of Manchester is not paying attention right now.

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1:03 will you notice when you walk down Elm Street that these people have been laid off, I suspect probably not, but it they are unemployed long enough and they become homeless, or they are standing on the street corners with a sign that says will work for food, then youï¿½re definitely going to notice it.

JAC PAC is scheduled to close its doors on February Third.

Mayor Bob Baines says he still has cards to play.

Heï¿½s in negotiations with the plantï¿½s former owner to but the company back from Tyson.

For NHPR news, Iï¿½m RK