McGill Manufacturing was founded in Valparaiso in 1905. Staff photo by Joseph S. Pete
VALPARAISO — Workers have been filling the remaining orders for bearings for Black Hawk helicopters and winding down operations at a factory long run by McGill Manufacturing, which was founded in Valparaiso 116 years ago and has been an institution ever since.
Wisconsin-based Regal Beloit, which acquired the aerospace plant at 2300 Evans Ave. in 2015, decided to shutter it after workers went on strike over proposed steep increases to their out-of-pocket health care expenses in 2019. President Joe Biden, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, and former U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky all had voiced support for the striking workers who make bearings for a number of civilian and military aircraft, including the Apache Block III attack helicopter, the V-22 Osprey, the F-35 Lighting fighter jet, the AH-1 Cobra, the CH-53E Super Station and the AH-1 Thunderbolt Warthog.
The company elected to close the plant after a months-long impasse in which it was unable to reach an agreement with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represented about 170 workers.
"It was going pretty good there. It's a sad thing to see happen," said Jim Jones, who's worked there for 32 years. "There are a lot of people with a lot of years there. It's unreal what happened. It's 100 years old. A lot of my friends still can't believe it."
Regal Beloit has pushed back the scheduled closing as it works to consolidate operations at a nonunion plant in Monticello, Indiana. The remaining workers in Valparaiso were told the factory would likely shut down at the end of May but were just informed it will likely keep operating until the end of July.
"When we announced plans to close our location in Valparaiso, we indicated that we anticipate the transition will happen gradually with an expected completion during 2021. We have no further update at this time," Vice President of Investor Relations Robert Barry said.
James McGill started McGill Manufacturing in 1905, initially producing electric light and wiring products. The company made a variety of products such as golf clubs, Venetian blinds, pull-chain switches and switches for washers, dryers, ovens, blenders, fans and power tools.
In 1925, McGill branched out into bearings that it initially made for manufacturers of machine tools, hydraulic pumps, material handling machinery, earth moving equipment and aircraft, according to the Porter County Museum.
The company started making tank bearings to support the war effort during World War II and served as a defense contractor ever since. In 1950, workers went on strike and secured a 9.5-cent per hour raise as a compromise between the 5-cent raise the company offered and the 10-cent raise the workers demanded.
McGill fell out of family hands in the 1990s when it was acquired by Emerson Power Transmission Corp., a few years after a New Zealand corporate raider started buying up stock, making it a potential target for a hostile takeover.
Jones has worked there under all three owners.
"I hate to see the place close," he said. "I'd rather retire on my own than have somebody else tell me when. I'm lucky because I'm old enough where I can either retire or find a part-time job but I don't know what people with young kids and families are going to do. It's a sad thing."
He oils and greases the machinery, maintains coolant levels, and helps out with maintenance.
"We make all kinds of bearings for helicopters, aircraft carriers, jets, those cables on the aircraft carriers that grab the jets," he said. "We've made bearings for tanks, submarines, some pretty cool things."
Jones had previously worked making magnets for everything from speedometers to smart bombs at the defunct Indiana General plant before its operations were moved to China. He started at McGill in 1988 and has known many of his colleagues for years.
"It's sad that we may never see some co-workers after we say our goodbyes," he said. "Some live in the Plymouth area, in Rochester, all the way down to Winamac. We have people from Rensselaer and Remington. It's a sad thing for everybody."
Rex Walkup, Valparaiso chairman at International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers Local 2018, also has worked as a grinder at the former McGill plant for more than three decades after previously working at Indiana General.
"We make bearings for Black Hawks, for Sikorsky, for Lockheed Martin," he said. "It's our responsibility to make quality bearings for those serving the country. When you're making the bearings you think about how much they're risking and how their life is in your hands."
Given that the bearings end up being used by the Armed Forces on the front lines, quality control is paramount.
"Those soldiers in the military are risking their lives," Walkup said. "You have to make sure that the quality is good, that nothing is cracked, that it's free of blemishes, that it passes inspection. You have to following the procedures and every little step of the process."
He said the pay was never great, especially with the rising health insurance costs, but the work was steady.
"Generations of people have passed through this plant," he said. "If your dad worked at McGill, you'd work at McGill. That's the way it was. People wanted to work for McGill. That's why this whole thing sickens me."
He plans to retire after the plant closes but feels bad for younger colleagues, whom he's encouraged to go to night school now to get some job training so they can line up new jobs when the factory finally does close.
"I don't like the way they've treated these people," he said. "They just close up plants. They don't produce anything, they just shut down plants. I don't think they know how to produce anything."
Six different groups have recently toured the plant. Workers are holding out hope someone will buy it and potentially continue to operate it as an aerospace bearing factory.
"People are hoping someone will take it over or reopen it," Jones said. "Who knows if that is going to happen but we're dreaming about it anyways."
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