Guest Commentary: Arctic Cat Leaves Employees in Lurch

The Madville Times received a substantial and interesting comment from an Anonymous reader regarding the closing of the Arctic Cat plant in Madison. While we prefer to hear from people willing to put their names behind their words, this comment deserves our attention. The Madville Times reposts the comment in full here as guest commentary and invites other readers to offer further insight, rebuttal, or other information.

Anonymous, posted 11/02/2007, 5:11 p.m.:

Arctic Cat Plant Closing – Sept. 26, 2007

At the Sept. 26, 2007 2:30 pm Arctic Cat, Inc. Madison plant meeting, the Vice President of Manufacturing and the Director of Human Resources explained Arctic Cat’s position regarding severance pay. At the meeting, the Arctic Cat, Vice President of Manufacturing when asked about any sort of severance checks made this comment. "Your 60 day notice is your Severance".

Did I miss something? It doesn't compute. The Federal and South Dakota Labor Law for Plant Shut downs, including mass layoffs of employees, called Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act is a Federal Law. It is the Law! Madison employees are getting no severance, except unused vacation time, which they have been using up for going home early due to lack of work. Arctic Cat employees have to work during their severance pay (WARN Law) period. Is the new way for corporations to cut costs?

Madison employees with a length of service from several months to fifteen years get "no unused sick time for which they were supposed to accumulate 2 weeks per year or 2080 hours worked. As well, when a question was asked about the usual May 15, 2008 profit sharing checks to employees, which are “always” distributed on May 15th of the year, for the previous production year’s employees reward. The employees were told, “company policy states all employees must be current employees”, even though this is a mass employee layoff at the completion of the production year, the dislocated workers, all 89 of them, get zero.

Madison employees are shut off from the company health insurance coverage at termination unless they elect a COBRA rate, which ranges from $881a month for family coverage to $1,056 a month.
Arctic Cat is Self Insurance and can not cut a break to employees they are escorting to the exit door?

Next Dwaine Chapel of the Madison Lake Area Improvement Council admitted that just the disappearance of Arctic Cat, will cost the community of Madison $2.9 million Dollars a year for lost payroll, not to include the payroll taxes the City of Madison would get through payment of Arctic Cat's payroll. This blow to the economy will have a domino effect on Madison’s small businesses and will cause further layoffs.

This announcement included the statement by Arctic Cat employees who wish to transfer to Thief River Falls could do so. This was the news media spin. The real truth is those who might want to transfer to the Arctic Cat Thief River Falls, MN plant would be subject to the following stipulations.

a. Pass a Drug Test

b. They must be qualified for the position applied for by filling out an internal job application.

c. They must be willing to relocate

d. They must pass a physical

Now, anybody with any common sense would concede most of the employees, first, would never dream of leaving their roots here in Madison, SD under these conditions.

Finally, the most insulting statements were made both by Arctic Cat representatives, and by the SD Dept. of Labor representative, as well. They claimed there are 150 jobs available in Colman, Madison, and Howard, SD. This is a span of about 46 miles with Madison between them. This is laughable. Many jobs are minimum wage and no benefits to jobs requiring College Degrees in Computer Science. You decide for yourself at: www.sdjobs.org. You can count the jobs by choosing Search by county, Lake. Imagine yourself picking one of those posted for your future. This is the real manner in which Arctic Cat, Inc. has left their loyal employees to this day from Sept. 26, 2007.

What is your opinion? Do you think the Madison employees are whining over nothing? How would you feel to have 60 days to plant out your future, find another job, sell your house, give notice to your landlord, and tell your family you can no longer afford health insurance.