Smurfit Stone still in Bankruptcy Court.
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ONTONAGON -- Local 2354 Union Vice President, Dennis O'Brien, said hearing that the 150 workers laid off from Smurfit Stone in Ontonagon will be back on the job in less than a week, was something he didn't expect to happen.
The Chicago-based company contacted local union reps early Friday evening with the news, ending the six month temporary shutdown.
Workers will return on May 26.
One-hundred-fifty people were originally laid off, but O'Brien said some have taken other jobs.
"We have people that were planning on retiring later, but they moved their retirement up early," said O'Brien. "So it's going to be hard to tell exactly how many will be returning."
Tom Cogswell, the Ontonagon Village Manager, is hopeful the news will stimulate spending at local businesses affected by the company's temporary shutdown.
"It's been a pretty tenuous six months, going month to month," said Cogswell. "And to hear they're recalling all the employees is a great thing. I think the whole town breathed a sigh of relief."
While the recall is good news for employees, union reps say they're not out of the woods yet. Smurfit Stone filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January and those proceedings aren't over yet.
"It's a case that whoever can produce the paper that's needed at the best cost is the one that's going to be running", O'Brien said.
But for now the community of 1,700 people have hope that their economic situations are turning around.
