Former employees shocked by closing of Charleroi glass plant

The long-time business will cease operations by the end of the year.

People who built their lives, families and legacies making glass in Charleroi are at a loss for words.

One day after Anchor Hocking CEO Mark Eichhorn announced its Charleroi plant would close by year’s end, the news has caused hundreds of people to worry about their futures and what the move might mean for their families.

The announcement left many shocked and in dismay, and long-time residents are concerned about the future of an already hard-hit industry. The glass factory, most commonly known by its founding name, Corning Glass, has been part of the fabric of the Mon Valley for nearly a century despite many changes in ownership over the years.

The newest owner, Eichhorn, informed more than 300 employees at the facility Wednesday it would close by the end of this year.

While about 50% of jobs will be relocated to the company’s Lancaster, Ohio, facility, hundreds of others were left with simple but potentially devastating questions.

Many are worried the news will cause a domino effect of economic impact across all sectors as the closure becomes more imminent over the next few months.

Employees at the Charleroi plant say they were told production will be shut down because officials do not want to keep two facilities open.

Quality Pasta Company, a facility near the plant, shut down last week in an unrelated closure that resulted in the loss of 100 jobs.

Daniele Byrne, vice president of Corelle Brands Charleroi Division of United Steelworkers Local 53G, has worked at the plant for 35 years.

Byrne, and many other employees who have built their careers at the glass plant, are uncertain about their future.

Missi Pendleton said she was heartbroken to hear the news.

Her parents, Bill, 78, and Judy Cook, 77, of North Charleroi met in 1977 while working at Corning and built a beautiful life together.

“My parents met at the plant, my dad had many years at Corning before retiring, and my mom before she had me,” she said. “It’s sad to see it close.”

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“We have nothing to offer for our area, losing the mills and now the plant. It’s going to be empty like the rest of the closures in the Valley.”

BILL COOK Bill was a floor worker from 1967 until he retired in 2001. His wife, Judy, was a packer/selector. She worked there from 1977 until Missi was born.

Bill lived in Monessen when he first started. As a young man, Corning was close to home, it was a good-paying union job and offered the security he needed.

Judy, a former Belle Vernon resident, saw Corning as a strong company and practical way at the time to support her young son from a prior marriage.

They both enjoyed working there, fell in love and saw the company grow.

“I watched the plant grow with employees and production,” Bill said. “I was there when Corning became World Kitchen in 1998 until I retired in 2001.”

Judy also recalled fond years as an employee.

“It was a good place to work, but I decided to be a stay-at-home mom,” she said.

“My mom continued to work there for a few years until finding out she was pregnant with me,” Pendleton said. “Before that they enjoyed the factory because it was good money at the time, and the shift work enabled one of them to be home with my brother working opposite shifts. My dad was a hard worker and able to provide for all of our needs alone on one income from there. My brother and I were very lucky that my dad was an employee there.”

Pendleton remembers how well the company took care of its employees.

As retirees, Bill and Judy enjoyed parties with their grandchildren.

“There they did so many things for the workers’ families from kids’ Christmas parties and summer picnics,” she said. “And now we watch my parents live a good life on his retirement.”

When Bill and Judy learned the plant would close, it was emotional.

“They both were very sad to hear this news and are praying that the current workers find replacement jobs quickly,” Pendleton said.

“It was a shock to me,” Bill said. “We have nothing to offer for our area, losing the mills and now the plant. It’s going to be empty like the rest of the closures in the Valley.”

Cynthia Chalfant Kortina is a Corning/World Kitchen retiree. She and her husband both retired from the plant and find themselves more angry than anything else.

“I am so hurt for the employees of Corning, it will always be Corning (to us),” she said. “Me and my hubby retired from there (and) at one time I had 17 family members there.”

Her heart is aching for the company’s current employees.

“It’s a devastating (loss),” she said. “I had 32 years there, my husband had 36 years, my sister and her husband both had 30-something years. So we feel like we will always be part of the plant. We still have friends there and are just heartbroken for them. Shame on you, Anchor Hocking … we will not forget what you did to our plant.”

Melissa Vitali has fond memories as a child of attending various work functions with her dad. Growing up, all her dad’s co-workers became family friends.

“Everyone that he worked with knew each other’s families.” Vitali said. “One of my biggest memories is that every Christmas they had a party for the children of everyone that worked there. We would go to the Coyle movie theatre and get to watch a movie or different holiday cartoons, and then we would get to see Santa and he would give us a candy cane and our treat bag. In the treat bag, we would get either a Corning cereal bowl or a coffee mug decorated for Christmas, a box of Redstone candy, an apple and an orange. It was like an extended family.”

Her father, Frank, passed away when she was young, but she is reminded of him often by people he worked with over the years.

“My dad passed when I was in middle school, but to this day I have people that worked with my dad see me and ask how I am and tell me how proud my dad would be of me,” she said.

Chris Moody, Valerie Giles Mc-Millen and Denise Hodges McGrogan are current or previous employees at the plant.

“After over 120 years, the new owners of the glass factory (in) Charleroi, formally known Corning Glass – still making quality Pyrex Bakeware as I write this – are closing its doors in January or February,” Moody posted on Facebook. “Myself and close to 300 other people will be looking for new opportunities.”

McMillen said it was a difficult day inside the factory.

“Very sad day here today (Wednesday) in this factory,” she wrote on Facebook. “I’ll never forget the people I met and the friends I’ve made and the knowledge I was privileged to learn here and I’ll take it with me. God be with all of us right now.”

“It was an experience of a lifetime,” McGrogan commented.

Ashley Riva said the announcement flipped her family’s life upside down.

After the closure was announced, her boyfriend, Brandon Bergstrom, began looking for a new job.

Bergstrom has spent 14 years at the company and currently serves as a line coordinator in the Automatics Department.

He is upset and shocked after Wednesday’s news, his girlfriend said.

“I work part-time but mostly am a stay-at-home mother to my 8-yearold son,” she said. “I may have to find a job to help cover the wages we will lose from my boyfriend having to get a lower-paying job, which means I will have to find help to watch our son and possibly pay for the help from others. We will also have to change our way of living in order to stay afloat and not struggle.”

She feels for others in a similar situation.

“People will have to worry how they will pay their bills with the economy the way it is,” Riva added. “Most of the workers were living pretty well off and not having to worry about bills, food and how they are going to live their lives, unlike most people in our community do.”

She said people may consider relocating to find similar opportunities.

“People will want to move, because what does this town have to offer anymore?” she said.

State Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll Township, said the news came as a “shock.”

“This is infuriating and heartbreaking,” she said in a statement. “Hundreds of our friends and neighbors are losing their jobs in this devastating economy. I have always been very supportive of the company with the hopes it would remain a staple in the Valley.

“The plant closure came as a shock, leaving me with questions that I want answered regarding how and why this happened. It is a huge loss for our community.”

U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters Township and state Rep. Bud Cook, R-West Pike Run Township, whose jurisdictions include Charleroi, did not respond to requests for comment prior to press time.