40 employees left jobless after plant unexpectedly closes
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HUNTINGDON, Tenn. — Dozens of West Tennessee families in shock after their company unexpectedly shuts down Friday leaving them without a job. Former employees of Sillco in Huntingdon say they were given no warning. Some workers say they are still stunned by what they say happened. The 40-some workers say they had no idea Fridays would be their last day. Former employee, Sandra Johnson, says three weeks ago they were told the company would temporarily shut down. “We kept being told it’s alright until it was just cut out from under us,” Johnson said. Former supervisor, Stella Gallimore, says they got word in a very unexpected way, “I mean I found out through a text message and then a phone call but it was from a coworker not anybody through management, ownership, nothing.” They say those same company leaders aren’t making the process of filing for unemployment easy. Workers say they’ve tried several times to contact management, but they won’t answer their calls. WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News also made several calls to management who didn’t answer. “These people are like family to me and now they don’t have jobs and now they can’t get unemployment they can’t get any help. They can’t do anything,” Gallimore said. A former sewing machine operator at Sillco says she moved back from Nashville because the company said they needed her. Since then she says she’s been laid off multiple times. “I’ve done drawn all my unemployment out I can’t and I have no money to be able to go anywhere look for another one because I’m broke,” former sewing machine operator Sheena Rash said. Gallimore says one of her coworkers has been with Sillco for 15 years. Now she and her husband are both jobless. “Some of us have other people to rely on. I have my husband, but they both worked here what are they going to do now,” Gallimore said. The employees say now they are just looking for answers. Sillco was a sewing factory that manufactured custom truck seat covers.
