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Hundreds of area workers will lose their jobs

Hundreds of area workers will lose their jobs - Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 2:51PM EST

Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Thursday, Jan 22, 2009 @ 02:51pm EST
COOLBAUGH TOWNSHIP, MONROE COUNTY - It was a bad day at work for hundreds of people in our area. They walked into a morning meeting and learned they will lose their jobs. They work at the Liz Claiborne distribution center in the Poconos. Since less people are buying clothes Liz Claiborne needs less people to ship them. So the company will close the Coolbaugh Township distribution center in March. All 350 people who work there will be jobless.

Scott Valenze and Warren Bernatsky knew trouble was brewing at the Liz Claiborne distribution center for months. "We were running out of work. Just working two days a week, three days a week," explained Bernatzky.

He said the company started to lay off some people last Spring but he expected it could get worse. He remarked, "We pretty much saw it coming. It's happening all over the country."

His hunch was right. At a meeting Thursday morning, Liz Claiborne announced it will shut down the Pocono center and lay off 350 workers. Scott said, "You don't totally grasp it until it happens to you. Now it's like, now what do I do?"

The first thing he has to do is tell his wife and four kids that after 19 years of working at Liz Claiborne, he doesn't have a job. "I'm just in limbo right now, thinking about what my next step is going to be," he said.

Both men said they will look for new jobs but they expect it will be difficult. Scott explained, "Everyone is gonna be screaming for jobs around here because you can't even find any."

Local officials are also concerned. They worry once LIz Claiborne shuts down it's going to be tough to find someone else to take their place, especially in this economy. "Hopefully we can get somebody to occupy the facility," said Coolbaugh Township Business Manager Douglas Hein. He told Eyewitness News the shut down could cost tens of thousands of dollars in tax revenue. Plus it could hurt other businesses. "It's a ripple effect to the stores, the restaurants and everything," he said.

One warehouse shuts down, hundreds of people lose jobs and countless more feel their pain.

Bernatzky said, "Hopefully the who country comes back around and everybody could get a job."

Liz Claiborne issued a statement that said the company made the change to better align work flow. A spokesperson wrote, "This was a difficult decision to make and we very much regret that workers will be affected."
 


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