Mujeres de la Tierra

Gibson Mariposa Park
Mosaic Art Project, El Monte  

Shipser Elementary School
Mosaic Art Workshop

Mujeres de la Tierra has been working in the El Monte community for the past six years.  We began our work with the outreach engagement campaign with the design development for Gibson Mariposa Park in collaboration with Amigos de los Rios.

Funded with a $25,000 grant from the California Community Foundation, the project involved getting the El Monte and surrounding communities engaged in designing and creating mosaic art pieces for the new neighborhood park - Gibson Mariposa Park.

Gregg Industries, El Monte

Mujeres de la Tierra salutes and applauds the workers of Gregg Industries. Our focus and commitment is and will be always the trabajadores and their families. 

Balancing good paying jobs with community health and clean air are values important to us. It is not an "either or" approach practiced by many traditional environmentalists-it is Environmental Equity.

Mujeres wishes them
all buena suerte.

El Monte Iron Works Face Uncertain Future

By Rebecca Kimitch, Staff Writer Posted: 03/29/2009 10:04:54 PM PDT

EL MONTE - In one month, the iron foundry that has operated on Arden Drive and Hickson Street for 60 years will be closed for good. And more than 200 men and women will be out of work.

Rather than slowing down, business at Gregg has been booming. The foundry has been racing to provide customers with enough parts to hold them over while they look for new suppliers.

Despite their full workload, in a few weeks the foundry's employees - many who have been there for a decade or more - will find themselves visiting unemployment offices, filling out applications, or signing up for job training workshops.

"I have to look for a job in whatever I can. In anything. What else can I do?" said Pio Martinez, a core room operator who has been working at Gregg for 32 years.

Martinezechoes the worries of many of his coworkers that, despite being experienced journeymen, they will have a hard time finding a job in their trade.

"Where are they going to give me work, there are many young people looking and the only work I have known is working here," said furnace operator Ricardo Garcia, 54.

Tony Medina has been a mechanic at the foundry for 16 years. Though his skills may be more transferable, at 56 he knows it's going to be tough.

"They think I only have a few years left to work, who wants that?" he said.

Medinawas planning on retiring in three years. The decimation of his 401(k) by the financial markets have shot any thought of retiring early.

"Now I don't know what to do. At my age the insurance gets higher. I would try to live off unemployment for a while, but I can't afford insurance," Medina said.

Forklift operator Mark Pettus, who has been at Gregg for nearly a decade, sees things differently.

"It's awful that 300 people are losing their jobs," he said. "But I am going to jump all over this. I am going back to school."

Pettus, 49, plans to study hydraulics and electronics at Los Angeles Trade Tech College.

"This is God talking to me ... getting an education is a battle, most people are thinking about getting the next meal on the table. But I am going to make this happen," he said.

Pettus will have the time. He may also get the money.

Gregg Industries has applied for federal assistance for its employees through the Trade Adjustment Act - which provides benefits and aid to workers who have lost their jobs because of shifts in production to other countries.

Gregg workers could get money for school and job training programs, as well as assistance and funds for job searches and tax credits for health insurance.

The Department of Labor is still reviewing Greggs' application, but general manager Jeff Hillier says they have a good case. The company received a major blow last year when one of its major customers, Honeywell, decided to buy its parts from Mexico and China - representing a $5 million blow to Gregg, Hillier said.

The iron foundry business in the United States has been shrinking for decades, according to Nancy Sidhu, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. In addition to increased competition from abroad, iron products are in less demand, she said.

Air quality standards here have also made operation of iron foundries more challenging, she said. Gregg has faced this reality head-on.

A strong sour and smoky smell reminiscent of fireworks pervades the area of the factory where the resin mold cores are made. Some neighbors have complained that this smell escapes the facilities to the surrounding community. The complaints resulted in a $4.7 million settlement with the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The foundry industry's struggle has been compounded by the economic crisis. In the comparable steel industry, companies are operating at 50 percent capacity - the worst rate since 1982, Sidhu said.

Considering this reality, where are Martinez, Medina and Garcia to turn for future employment, if not back to school like Pettus?

Some will find work at one of the city's remaining foundries - that is where plant operations manager Efren Huerta plans to go. And he hopes to take as many of his men with him as he can.

"If a foundry is looking for the skills we have, they'll get snatched up. These guys are hard workers ... and they are going out with dignity," Hillier said. "But with the economy the way it is, it's going to be tough for those unable to travel far."

Sidhu agrees.

"When people get laid off under these conditions, finding a new job is going to be tough," she said. "This is going to be an individual issue for each and every one one of those workers."

rebecca.kimitch@sgvn.com

(626) 962-8811 ext. 2105

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