Sub Zero to Close Madison Plant; 100 Will Lose Jobs

image: Yep..that's a fridge. And if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.

I actually have a couple of in-laws who work as repairmen for Sub-Zero refrigerators. If you aren't familiar with the brand, that's likely because you haven't ever spent upwards of $15,000 or more to buy a refrigerator. Seriously, Fifteen Large to buy a freaking icebox. Yes, they are very much toys of the one-percenters. It cracks me up that my relatives actually work full time repairing the damn things. For that kind of scratch, you'd think they would last forever.

My family members will not, however, be affected by the announcement that the Sub-Zero plant in Madison, Wisconsin, is about to be closed down. Here is the Wisconsin State Journal with the details:

Sub-Zero said 100 workers at its Madison plant will lose their jobs by the end of June.

The privately owned company, which makes upscale refrigerators and stoves, sent a letter to state and city officials Tuesday saying it will close operations at 4717 Hammersley Road on June 29.

Okay, that's bad...but this is the real kicker:

Goodspeed said the workers affected earn $22 an hour, or about $30 an hour, including benefits.

"Some of these workers — they're having a tough time dealing with this. These are good-paying jobs. They know similar pay and similar benefits are not waiting for them on the outside," he said.

Goodspeed said up to now, the union has helped 20 other workers from the Madison plant find jobs in Fitchburg, where about 300 employees make Sub-Zero built-in freezers and refrigerators and 200 produce Wolf ranges and cooktops. He said he hopes some of the remaining employees can also be shifted to Fitchburg.

Though they are not new, the job cuts are still hard to swallow, Goodspeed said, especially with concessions employees took in order to keep their work here. Bitterly fought contract agreements, reached over the past year and a half, cost union members 20 percent of their pay and benefits and froze wages for five years but promised to keep their jobs until at least 2018.

"There's still a great deal of animosity out on the floor," Goodspeed said. "It's very hard for some people to move beyond."

See, it doesn't even matter if you as an employee or union member are willing to make concessions and give up part of your benefits and pay. Sooner or later the axe will fall anyway.


Bonus: We are in fact NOT going to be saved by zero