Machinists union will get severance package following Regal Beloit’s decision to close Valparaiso plant • Northwest Indiana Business Magazine
Regal Beloit valpo strike

Machinists union will get severance package following Regal Beloit’s decision to close Valparaiso plant

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Regal Beloit valpo strike
Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 2018 who worked for Regal Beloit in Valparaiso went on strike in late June. The company now plans to close the plant. (Submitted photo)

Wisconsin-based manufacturing giant Regal Beloit Corp. will close its Valparaiso plant.

Robert Cherry, vice president, business development and investor relations with the company, said a final closure date had not been determined and the company was working to fulfill its obligations to its customers and other stakeholders.

The company had been in talks with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 2018, which represented 111 workers at the plant, who went on strike in late June, seeking better wages and affordable health care.

The union reached an agreement with the company to return to work Sept. 3 after the company’s Aug. 27 announcement that it would close its Valparaiso plant at 2300 Evans Ave. The company had said it would exit certain product lines and move the site’s remaining work to its facility in Monticello, about 64 miles south of Valparaiso.

Cherry did not elaborate on what products it would discontinue or what work from Valparaiso would be transferred to its Monticello plant.

LaToya Egwuekwe-Smith, a representative for the machinists union, said the union and the company reached an agreement on a severance and benefits package, which members approved Sept. 27. The plant also employed 60 additional nonunion workers.

In a paid advertisement that appeared in a recent edition of The Times of Northwest Indiana, the union expressed thanks to those who supported them during its strike.

“Our members manned the picket line for hours, days and weeks – fighting for better wages, benefits and working conditions – to no avail,” the union said in the ad.

Regal Beloit manufactures electric motors, electrical motion controls, power generation and power transmission products. The International Association of Machinists Local 2018 members employed by Regal Beloit in Valparaiso produced parts for many U.S. aerospace defense programs, including Apache helicopters and Air Force One.

The factory has operated in Valparaiso for more than 100 years, according to the union.

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