Sumitomo Rubber employee Gary Pelletier reacts to the closure of the Tonawanda plant Thursday
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00:00I don't know really what the deal yet, I want to get them back before I figure out what
00:09I have to do moving forward.
00:14Not really, they never put us up to full potential of our production capabilities, they kept
00:19us low.
00:20We were supposed to be over 12,000 tires per day right now, we were at 9, and we were told
00:26anything over 5,000 tires per day was profitable, and we understood the market that we were
00:31getting imports that were dumped from the country, so it was making our production more
00:36costly.
00:37When did you first find out about today's closure and the whole process going forward?
00:43When I got on Facebook.
00:44Facebook?
00:45Yeah.
00:46Oh, you didn't even get notice from the facility?
00:47I was on a Facebook union page that we share, not affiliated with the union, but members
00:56of the union.
00:57What have the conversations been like with some of your fellow co-workers, union members,
01:00about just this sudden closure of this plant?
01:03It was my understanding that the plant was planned to be closed throughout this whole
01:07week, but for it to be more than halfway through the week all of a sudden be closed.
01:11We were told this week we were going to shut down for too many tires in the warehouse to
01:16cut down on their levels of tires, and come back Monday, and we fell for it, we believed
01:23it because certain tires weren't selling like our MTR tires, and we've been making them
01:29for a long time, not needing them, so they're stocked up.
01:32Has the company used that before?
01:35Have you shut down before because of inventory issues, or was this...
01:38No, we've shut down because we had computer issues, and we've had mechanical breakdowns
01:42that impacted the whole factory.
01:45The company said financial viability was one of the main reasons why.
01:50Do you buy that?
01:51No.
01:52Why?
01:53I blame it on the dumping of tires into this country from Thailand and China, and there's
01:57no tariffs put on them, making ours more costly to produce in the long term.
02:04This is a huge loss for the family's long bond.
02:08What do you do?
02:12I don't know.
02:13I've been there almost 30 years, and I'm not even 50 yet, so I don't know what to do.
02:18I've got to find a job.
02:21You told me before your dad also worked here, too, and was able to retire out of here.
02:26What was his thoughts when he also heard this?
02:28Disbelief.
02:29It's hard to believe.
02:30No one ever expects this is ever going to happen to them, and you're always thinking
02:34you're good, too.
02:35Retire.
02:36At least get your family members in after you retire and keep the place going.