Furloughed GM Workers Rebuild Community

WENTZVILLE, Mo., March 12, 2009— -- The sagging economy and poor sales have stalled the assembly line at the General Motors factory in Wentzville, Mo. Though the plant went idle for three weeks, its workers were not.

The skilled hands, accustomed to assembling cargo and passenger vans, built bicycles at an emergency children's shelter, and stocked the local food pantry.

The 1,770 United Auto Workers were laid off for three weeks, but hundreds of them used their downtime to help charity groups in the area.

"Building cars is what we do," said Mike Bridgins, who has worked at GM for 28 years and came up with the idea to connect workers with charity groups. "But if we're not going to be building cars, we need to be back in our community doing things to help the community out. There is no better thing you can do than to volunteer your time."

So, Bridgins, along with his union colleagues, volunteered to play games and burp babies at St. Louis Crisis Nursery -- a shelter for children whose families are dealing with financial trouble or abuse.

Bridgins, who is a grandfather, sat on the floor playing Candy Land with three young shelter residents.

"I've never won a Candy Land game in my life," he said with a wink and a smile.

"We usually have only two or three volunteers," said DiAnn Mueller of the St. Louis Crisis Nursery. "Since the plant's been down, we have six, seven, eight volunteers show up every day -- and it's made a big difference."

Donating their time to children and those in need has made an impact in the lives of the workers too.

"To work with these children -- even for a little while -- and see the smiles on their faces, it's a relief. It's a good feeling," said Ron Moore, civil rights chairman at the plant.

"Other than sitting at home and worrying about your job, this gives you something to do. It makes me happy," said Denise Black, a GM worker who has been with the company for 24 years.

"I think even if you are laid off, you will think I can make a difference today. I'm not going to think about the situation, said Marcia Cline, who helps run the United Way of Greater St. Louis -- an umbrella agency for many of the charities involved.