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 Gildan to close 2 sock plants in Mount Airy, cut 520 jobs By Sherry Youngquist and Richard Craver JOURNAL REPORTERS Thursday, May 31, 2007

MOUNT AIRY

Workers arrived at Gildan Activewear’s two plants here at 7 yesterday morning ready to knit and finish socks, only to learn that their jobs would be gone by the end of summer as the company consolidates its manufacturing in Honduras.

Supervisors handed each employee a letter and told them to go home for the day to absorb the news.

“It was extremely hard. You go in, and you’re not expecting it. All of the sudden it’s like a bomb,” said Theresia Wilson, 53, who works in shipping and receiving and has 30 years with the company.

“You’ve built up your vacation time. You’ve built up your pay. You devote the better part of your life to that company, and it’s just devastating.”

The announcement yesterday by Gildan that it will close its two remaining sock plants here by the end of August and put 520 people out of work is the single largest manufacturing loss in 20 years.

This year alone, Mount Airy has now been hit with a total of five plant closings. An estimated 1,047 jobs will be gone by the end of the summer at Gildan, Renfro, Cross Creek, and Spencer’s Infants and Children’s Wear. Most of those jobs will be moved overseas.

“The economy has changed,” said Donald Brookshire, the city manager of Mount Airy, adding, “From the perspective of textile manufacturing, it’s a matter of time before the last textile manufacturer is here.”

The closings will hurt not just workers and their families but also the city of Mount Airy, which depended on the plants for water fees and property taxes. (more…)

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