[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 64 (Thursday, May 9, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H4786]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    PLANT CLOSINGS AND AMERICAN JOBS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maine [Mr. Longley] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LONGLEY. Mr. Speaker, on Monday of this week, a chilling 
announcement was received by 500 employees of the C.F. Hathaway Co. in 
Waterville, ME. When the Warnaco Co., which is a national holding 
company, which owns the C.F. Hathaway Co., in Waterville, made the 
following announcement, that following a comprehensive evaluation of 
their Hathaway men's dress shirt business, the Warnaco Co. had decided 
to cease manufacturing and marketing this brand. This decision will 
ultimately result in the sale of the business or the cessation of 
operations at those facilities were Hathaway shirts are produced, 
including the plant in Waterville, ME.
  Mr. Richard Kelso, president of the Mid-State Economic Development 
Corp., in central Maine, said of the news that this was going to be a 
devastating blow because of the large number of workers involved and 
that unemployment in the mid-Maine area would soar from 7 or 8 percent, 
currently a full point above the Maine State average, to upward of 10 
percent.
  This is a significant and devastating blow to the Waterville, ME 
economy. While the Waranco Co., has indicated that it will cease 
manufacturing at the facility, they have, pursuant to State law, given 
the 500 employees 60 days notice of their intention to either terminate 
operations or, hopefully, to find a buyer for their operations. The 
Governor of our State, Governor King, has spoken to the company and has 
conveyed to the company his great concern over the welfare of those 500 
workers and that he, on behalf of the State and the congressional 
delegation, was going to extend every effort to assist the Warnaco Co., 
in attempting to find a buyer. He and we and other Members of the 
delegation have all urged the company to continue their operations, 
hopefully until such time as we can find a buyer for the company.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a tremendous economic loss or potentially a 
tremendous economic loss to central Maine. The C.F. Hathaway Co. is 
currently the oldest domestic shirt manufacturing company in the United 
States. It was founded in 1837, almost 160 years ago. The 500 workers 
today work at wages averaging $7 to $9 an hour. We all hear a lot of 
talk about the productivity of the American worker, and we are all very 
gravely concerned about the shift towards overseas and offshore 
production.

  It is significant that just in the last 2 years, as the workers of 
this company became aware of the fact that Warnaco was concerned about 
its production costs, that they have managed to increase weekly output 
from just over 2,000 dozen shirts a week to more than 3,000 dozen 
shirts a week, an increase of over 40 percent. Just as importantly, the 
labor costs have decreased from about $125 a dozen shirts to $60 a 
dozen shirts.
  What is even more startling to the people in my State and in my 
district is the fact that the Warnaco Co. also at the same time 
reported over $30 million in operating income on revenues of $206 
million or net income of about $15 million after additional expenses.
  This is the contrast that we face: American workers losing good 
American jobs, paying local taxes, supporting State and Federal 
Government, and yet confronted with the loss of their jobs even as the 
company that owns their production facility is making millions of 
dollars.
  I would suggest that there is an issue here that we in this Chamber 
should be paying attention to. I hope to be investigating it further.
  We need to take a very close look at the cost of doing business in 
this country and specifically evaluate the fact that 500 workers could 
be losing their jobs at the very same time that a company could be 
earning millions of dollars and in fact watching the stock price of the 
company rise even as they are losing their jobs.

                              {time}  2215

  I think this is a serious issue. I have called on the Warnaco Co. to 
extend every consideration to the State and to the Governor as he 
attempts to lead us in attempting to find a purchaser for the company, 
and I encourage and hope that they will extend that courtesy. The 500 
workers who demonstrated a tradition of loyalty going back 160 years I 
hope are entitled to the same expressions of loyalty and courtesy from 
the company for which they worked and I think we can ask for no less.

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