KANNAPOLIS — Laid-off Pillowtex employees will get three months of free health insurance and can claim future job openings under a plan negotiated between the company and the union that represents the workers.
Harris Raynor, southern regional director for the Union of Needletrade, Industrial and Textile Employees, said the union’s goal is to keep workers with the company.
“Normal employee turnover will create numerous jobs that laid-off workers can then fill for the next two years, making this 24-month right to jobs a valuable benefit,”Raynor said in a statement issued this week.
Pillowtex announced in May it will close Plant 4 and trim its work force at Plant 1, shedding 590 local jobs. Closing a Columbus, Ga. plant will eliminate another 190 jobs.
In April, the company announced it would close plants in Rocky Mount and Newton, costing those communities 290 jobs. Officials say the moves are necessary as the struggling textile maker works through bankruptcy.
The agreement with Pillowtex also bolsters the rights of laid-off workers who are qualified to do jobs held by probationary, temporary and junior employees to take those jobs, the union says.
In addition to free medical and dental insurance, employees will receive a severance payment, with the amount of the payment determined by a worker’s length of employment with the company.
The Rev. Grant Harrison, pastor of Marable Memorial AME Zion Church and chairman of the Community Coalition to Protect Pillowtex Jobs, said the insurance policy will be key to families searching for work after a layoff.
“The peace of mind that employees gain ... simply cannot be overstated,”he said.
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