All quiet on the Chrysler front: employees face uncertain future

Mary Jackson began working at the DaimlerChrysler plant in Newark almost a decade ago. She worked as a fire security officer, doing safety inspections of the incoming trucks and opening the gates for deliveries, driving a 45-minute commute from her home in Maryland because she loved what she did.

"At one point when gas prices were over $4, I was paying more to fill my car with gas than I was earning at the plant," Jackson says.

Since she is approaching retirement age, Jackson, 62, had hoped to stay at the plant long enough to draw into her Social Security. But last Christmas, the plant closed. And because she worked for one of Chrysler's contractors, not the company itself, it's a softer landing but still a bittersweet goodbye.

Another worker at the plant, Joan Shepherd, 61, had decided to cut back on some of her Christmas spending, stay at the Newark plant until her services are no longer needed and leave it up to the office personnel at Wackenhut Corporation to find her another position in the area.

Jackson and Matthew Debus, 38, a fire specialist and security supervisor, decided not to change their spending budgets for the holidays. With Jackson's children and grandchildren living in California, her holiday was low-key and her spending unaffected. Debus, on the other hand, still has children at home. So with another year left on his employment contract, he didn't trim down his Christmas spending either, he says.

While the contract workers are relieved to have a job for yet another year, the whole situation still made Shepherd's holiday less cheerful, she says.

"I don't like change," Shepherd says. "Even though it's still a year away, I'm already depressed to leave all the people I've become friends with and nervous to start over with a new company."

Chrysler contracted with the Wackenhut Corporation, a private security group, in January 1999 to provide security for its plants nationwide. Additionally, Wackenhut employs 35,000 in primary services including energy consulting, government services and consulting and investigations, according to the company's Web site.

Wackenhut launched its security operations at the Newark plant in 2004 when the plant and its employees underwent major restructuring, according to Wackenhut's Web site. Jackson says the Newark plant temporarily closed for renovations and the manned gates were replaced with electronic gates. At that time, only security guards with seniority were hired by Chrysler to work inside the plant at higher wages. Those remaining went to work for Wackenhut, taking varying pay cuts for each position, she says.

Despite a decrease in pay, Wackenhut employees at the Newark Chrysler plant are paid more than any other site in Delaware, Jackson says.

Due to a decrease in car sales, especially SUVs, Chrysler has been cutting shifts and jobs at plants throughout the country. Early last year, the Newark plant began cutting shifts and was down to one shift before it officially closed. The Newark plant assembled two vehicles, the Dodge Durango and the Chrysler Aspen. The site was also the only plant in the country that produced the two models, according to a Chrysler press release.

In recent years, sales of the Durango have been down 54 percent and sales of the Aspen have been down 21 percent. When the plant closed at the end of December, production of the two car models was either going to shift to Chrysler's Jeep Grand Cherokee plant in Detroit or come to an end, a Chrysler press release states.

Although Chrysler employees are no longer working at the plant, security contractors will remain at the Newark site through the end of 2009, with no change to their pay or benefits.

Debus says since the pay and benefits at the plant are good, he has no plans to search for another job until this one ends.

"Security workers will still be needed while the facility is being prepared for whoever takes over," Debus says. "The materials and equipment can't be taken out overnight."

Once the plant's future is finally decided and security is no longer necessary, Wackenhut will find new positions in the area for its workers. Debus, who is also a volunteer firefighter in Middletown, plans to continue taking firefighting classes and increasing his skills in the meantime.

"Firefighting and security isn't just a job to me," he says. "It's my passion."

Jackson, however, will explore other alternatives besides security work. Since she has prior customer service experience, she is considering returning to that field to pursue other employment opportunities until she retires, she says. Another career Jackson may explore is information technology since she recently learned how to operate a computer. If all else fails, she will remain in the security field, she says.

As a fire marshal, Shepherd will take an obvious pay cut when the Newark plant no longer needs security in the building, since Chrysler was the only manufacturer in the area that required a fire marshal on site. When Wackenhut re-assigns her, she will have to accept a security guard position instead, she says.

"Unfortunately, as contract workers, we weren't eligible to take the training classes offered by Chrysler to its employees," Shepherd says.

Wackenhut has a contract with Chrysler to provide security at the plant for yet another year, but there have been rumors around the site that the building could be demolished as early as this spring, she says. This means Wackenhut employees could be out of work much sooner than expected.

Chrysler didn't keep its employees informed of its decisions or plans for the plant. Rather, they received their information from the media like the rest of the public, Shepherd says.

"We were told to refer any media questions to the headquarters in Detroit," she says. "But we couldn't answer them even if we wanted to."