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bodydamage t1_jc4zzds wrote

Big oof.

At least Bear Island is spinning back up, and Lego is projecting to open their plant in Chester next year sometime, so the folks working there have some options short term and long term.

Last I checked the Lego factory is going to be hiring ~1700 employees

I’ve also been seeing a fair number of ads for jobs at Gerdau in Petersburg

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VCUBNFO t1_jc548wt wrote

Do you know if the Lego plant is unionized?

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bodydamage t1_jc5a1ol wrote

Unknown at this point.

It hasn’t opened yet so we’ll have to wait and see

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raindeerpie t1_jc6rm13 wrote

hopefully not.

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moderatehill t1_jcack3o wrote

How will the CEOs survive without their million dollar raise and country club membership?

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raindeerpie t1_jcarnb4 wrote

exactly. If unions are letting that stuff happen than what are they even good for?

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moderatehill t1_jcb22u0 wrote

>exactly. If unions CEOs are letting that stuff happen than what are they even good for?

FTFO

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raindeerpie t1_jcbcb23 wrote

exactly! They are both the same. glad we are on the same page brother. lets fight against unions and corrupt corporations together!

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moderatehill t1_jcbogj0 wrote

We aren't doing so well brother, union membership was at a 20 year high last year but billionaires lost 147 billion so we at least got that going for us

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Sage_Advice420 t1_jc76nmg wrote

Fuck is wrong with you

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VCUBNFO t1_jc7739e wrote

Probably does't want it to up in move in 20 years.

I'm sure Lego picked VA for manufacturing specifically because they don't want a union.

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raindeerpie t1_jc78r9e wrote

VA is not a big union state. that was definitely considered when LEGO chose VA to build their plant. I'd like this plant to actually stick around for a while and have good non union jobs.

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Colt1911-45 t1_jc7oncl wrote

Bear Island opens and then closes repeatedly. I would not want to get a job there and then get laid off after a year or two unless it was absolutely necessary.

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bodydamage t1_jc8lpey wrote

That’s not entirely true, it’s not telling the whole story.

Bear Island was previously owned by White Birch and made newsprint. In 2017 they idled the plant and put it up for sale, Cascades came into the picture as a prospective buyer and wanted to see the plant run, so White Birch started the plant back up temporarily so Cascades could see it run. Cascades purchased Bear Island and is in the final stages of converting the plant to make linerboard(the stuff cardboard boxes are made out of) along with being a 100% recycled fiber process.

They’ve got something north of $400 MILLION tied up in the conversion in addition to the $37 million they paid for the plant. Between their investment and demand for linerboard I’d be shocked if they idled the plant.

Source: I know multiple people who work at Bear Island currently under Cascades ownership and I know several people who previously worked there under White Birch ownership.

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Colt1911-45 t1_jca65it wrote

Thanks for giving me more insight. I work for a company that was a vendor there and we have been burned by them a few times. It just didn't seem like a very stable place to work, but like you said that's quite an investment so hopefully it proves to be a good place to work.

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bodydamage t1_jca72db wrote

It’s also a completely different company now, that’s as big of a deal as the investment, possibly even more so.

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