BURNED MILL KEEPS WORKERS ON PAYROLL DURING REBUILDING.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. The president of a textile mill partially destroyed in a fire extended for another month his promise to keep paying workers until the factory is completely up and running. Aaron Feuerstein Aaron Feuerstein (born 1925) was the third-generation owner[1] and CEO of Malden Mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts. When the Malden Mills factory burnt down on December 11, 1995, Feuerstein decided not only to use his insurance money to rebuild it, but to also pay , president of Malden Mills Malden Mills Industries is the original manufacturer of Polartec polar fleece and manufactures other modern textiles. The company is located in Lawrence, Massachusetts and also has operations in Hudson, New Hampshire. Industries Inc., where the popular synthetic fabric Synthetic fabrics are textiles made from synthetic fibres. They are used primarily to make clothing. Polartec is made, said Thursday that benefits and salaries would continue for at least 30 days to 1,000 of the 1,800 workers who remain out of work. Employees gathered in a mill building for the announcement greeted it with cheers and shouts. "You're a saint!" one person yelled. "Why am I doing it?" Feuerstein said. "I consider the employees standing in front of me here the most valuable asset that Malden Mills has. "I don't consider them, like some companies do, as an expense that can be cut. I know, in the long run, that what I'm doing today will come back tenfold and will make Malden Mills the best company in the industry." Three of the nine buildings at the 130-year-old complex erupted into flames Dec. 11, injuring 33 people and putting about 1,800 employees out of work just weeks before Christmas. Six workers remain hospitalized. Within hours of the blaze, Feuerstein, 70, pledged to rebuild, and soon afterward promised to pay his employees for 30 days and continue their health insurance coverage for 90 days. "He's just simply unbelievable," said Rene Gingras of Derry, N.H., who has worked at Malden Mills for 25 years. "Do you have a corporate chief willing to give you $300 or so a week for doing nothing?" The grandson of the company's founder, Feuerstein has been widely acclaimed for his commitment to his workers. Gov. William Weld William Floyd Weld (born July 31, 1945, in Smithtown, New York) was the Republican Governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997.[1] From 1981 to 1988, he was a federal prosecutor in the United States Justice Department. praised him in his State of the State address The State of the State Address (alternatively Condition of the State Address) is a speech customarily given once each year by the governors of most states of the United States. Tuesday. The company, which produces fabrics including Polartec and Polarfleece, employs 3,200 people worldwide and has annual sales of $400 million. About 65 percent of all employees were back at work by this week. Malden Mills is one of the biggest employers in the former industrial area along the Spicket River The Spicket River is a 17.7 mile long (28.5 km)[1] river located in New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the United States. It is a tributary of the Merrimack River, part of the Gulf of Maine watershed. in the Lawrence-Methuen area. Richard Lizotte, a 28-year-old machine operator from Londonderry, N.H., said he just wanted to get back to work. He said he wasn't surprised that Feuerstein had extended benefits. "He's a fair man; he's a man of his word," Lizotte said. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion