Venerable shirt maker hands out a catch with severance checks
Copyright © 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
WATERVILLE — C.F. Hathaway Co. ended its 149-year relationship with Waterville on Friday when it closed its factory, putting 235 employees out of work.
Staff photo by JONATHAN MIANOCheryl Languet hugs Nancy Hunt goodbye on the last day of work at the C.F. Hathaway plant. click to enlarge
The move by the nation's oldest shirtmaker, which came to Waterville from Massachusetts in 1853, became inevitable when the company found itself unable to compete with products made in other countries.
Many Hathaway workers, most of whom were women employed for 15 to 20 years as stitchers and fabric cutters, cried and hugged as they left the building, severance packages in hand.
For some, sadness on Friday was mixed with hope.
"I'll get by," said Ann Clark of Norridgewock, who had worked at Hathaway for 18 years. "There's life beyond this place and we're going to find it."
Friday was the final day of work for all but about two dozen workers in the finishing and shipping departments. In all, more than 200 people have lost their jobs at the old brick factory since the closing was announced in March.
The factory outlet store will remain open at least until the end of the month.
"It's kind of sad really," said Nancy Duplessie of Vassalboro, who had worked for 20 years at Hathaway. "One lady was here 34 years and yesterday was her last day."
As they left the factory Friday, workers said they had not yet examined the severance package the company had offered them.
The agreement, dated Thursday and signed by company Chief Executive Officer Donald Sappington, explained that laid-off workers are eligible for one week's salary — minus tax and deductions — for every five years they were employed by the company.
But there is a catch, according to the six-page document.
In order to collect any of their severance pay, each worker must sign a release form promising they will never sue the company or its representatives or hold them responsible for liabilities or damages related to a variety of possible claims.
Employees who sign the document automatically waive their right to challenge the company for wrongful dismissal, discrimination, perceived violations of the collective bargaining agreement, lack of worker retraining and notification of shut down.
Without the agreement, there will be no severance payment, according to the document.
Donna Charland of Waterville, vice president of Local 486 of the Union of Needle Trades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) and a former Hathaway worker, said the union was aware of the agreement.
"You have to sign that agreement to get your severance package," she said. "We knew it was coming. No, it's not fair. But a lot of things aren't fair."
Waterville City Solicitor William A. Lee said such covenants not to sue are not uncommon.
"They are generally enforceable," Lee said. "Generally speaking, they are binding except under certain circumstances. If they sign them, they receive a benefit."
Additionally, for women such as Marie Bellows of Winslow, the loss of her job and a meager severance package also means the loss of her insurance benefits.
"I'm done," she said leaving the plant Friday. "I've been here 21 years. I started when I was 21.
"It's sad. Everybody has been hugging and crying. This is my second home and the insurance is going to kill me."
Insurance coverage for Bellows, her self-employed husband and their children, ages 10 and 12, runs out Oct. 31.
For many of the workers, retraining for a new career is out of the question. Immediate employment with benefits is essential, they said.
The end of the Hathaway factory became inevitable after it failed in recent months to win a key contract to make shirts for the Air Force, and the nonprofit Made in the USA Foundation failed to line up investors to take over the facility.
After that, workers resigned themselves to the closing, which came on a bright, clear fall day as the leaves shone their autumn brilliance outside the plant on the banks of the Kennebec River.
Windsong Allegiance Apparel Group of Westport, Conn., which operates the Hathaway plant, was willing to donate the equipment to anyone with the financial backing to keep it going, according to Colette Sipperly, spokeswoman for the company.
"We regret that we were unable to really bring the plan to fruition," she said from her office in New York.
Hathaway follows a growing number of apparel and shoe companies that have moved production overseas.
Those include G.H. Bass and Cole Haan, which shut down their Maine shoe factories in 1998 and 1999, respectively. The Dexter shoe plant also closed late last year, putting 475 people out of work.
Hathaway, which was founded in Massachusetts in 1837, put up a fight before succumbing to pressures of foreign competition that sent others packing.
It was on the verge of closing five years ago before a local investment group financed a bailout. It was again on the verge of collapse last fall when Windsong Allegiance Group bought the company last year.
Less than six months after Windsong bought Hathaway, the company announced plans to shut it down in June.
A last-minute, $5 million contract from Wal-Mart staved off the inevitable, but only temporarily as the Made in the USA Foundation tried in vain to find investors to keep the plant open.
Doug Harlow — 861-9244 dharlow@centralmaine.com David Sharp of the Associated Press contributed to this report.