I worked at Freedom Plastics for 12 years. I started on the floor and worked my way into supervision on the fabrication side. For the most part Freedom Plastics was a great company.
I think between 91-98 was a great time. Fabrication and Pipe were clicking on all cylinders. Freedom Plastics has always had great employees. People that were passionate about doing a good job and producing efficently.I know when the good times were and I knew the bad was coming again. Obviously the economy has played a part in all of this but it's not to be blamed entirely. There was too much change going on to fast at the tale end of my employment there and it does'nt sound like it stopped after I left. There was a time when there were good managers and supervisors. The problem is management wanted to implement change on a constant basis. I understand the need to change with the times or stay caught up with technology. However that usually meant a new way of doing production or replacing supervisors. Well that also means your constantly recycling management and retraining management and before too long nobody knows what the hell there supposed to do. The people that are supposed to lead and direct are more helpless and lost than the people there supposed to lead or represent. Anyway it does'nt take a college degree with a pretty title on it to qualify somebody to do a job. Freedom should of stuck with people who knew what they were doing the employees. They had good people but nothing was ever good enough. I can personally say Steve Scaccia is a good man and I lived a good lifestyle the entire time I worked at Freedom Plastics. They were fair to the employees and treated them well. It's unfortunate that history is repeating itself again. I just hope everybody keeps there jobs and if there is a ownership transition that it's a smooth one. I wish everybody the best, I made alot of friends there over the years my fingers are crossed for your sake.

Islandmaker, I hate to break the news, but a receivership is a form of corporate bankruptcy. Thus this statement, "They are trying to sell there business before they buckle so they can come out of the whole and not go bankrupt" is probably something they should have thought about months and months ago. As the full article stated, "...Chapter 11 bankruptcy was rejected as an option because it's a long, costly process." I guess what I am seeing here is they waited too long to take action to salvage the company and are now "losing" the company to new ownership as a consequence. Of course, I have been wrong before and I only have what I am reading in the paper to form an opinion.

I am not bitter, I guess I have seen too many people suffer at the hands of poor management. Not at Freedom Plastics, just in general. I hope, hope, hope, hope my pessimism in this case is incorrect. In a few weeks, it would be wonderful to hear Freedom was sold to a someone who wanted to keep all the current Freedom employees. If that happens, I will post an apology for my pessimism. This is one of the few times in my life I wouldn't mind being proven wrong! :-)

islandmaker :way to go .Steve and the rest of management try their best for the workers.
areyouserious:
You don't sound happy. You sound bitter.

Areyouserious. Do you honestly think that people want to go out of business?! Think about what they are doing. They are trying to sell there business before they buckle so they can come out of the whole and not go bankrupt. Now I dont know where your logic is, but think about that. Should they just keep it and slowly keep running out of cash, and then just buckle? Yep, your right. You are the business manager of all times. I think you should really look at both sides of the plate. Its not just the managment, you have to take into consideration the economy. Look at CBK for example cutting 75% of there staff the other day. Do you think that to has to do with managment being selfish and irresponsible, or maybe just a sign of a slowing market in that field. I love how everyone blames the slowing economy on the managment and owners of business, when in doubt if it wasnt for the people, YOU would have never had a job.

Do you people really believe Steve and the rest of the management team cares if Freedom employees have a job when all this is said and done? I, for one, am not buying into this. They are trying to portray an image of caring to disguise their obvious irresponsibility!!!!!

I worked there for 9 years. Steve did a great job in running Freedom Plastic's. He did everything he could, to keep his employee's working. To those I still know at Freedom Plastic's, I hope all works out and good luck in the future.

I am a present and hopfully a future employee of Freedom Plastics & United Steelworkers Union, we as a team know for a fact that Steve has done an outstanding job to bring Freedom Plastics to a world class company and I know this is the hard's thing he ever had to do, because everything he's done reflects on the qualty of people that made Freedom a place you would be proud of, Freedom Plastics will be here in the future, we as a team will pull together as always, good luck to everyone and keep the chin up!!!!!!!:)

Thanks Larry for the kind words . I may have to call you. Freedom Plastics is a good place to work. I`ve been there almost 15 years.
There are some very good workers with families to support.I know this is a hard thing for
Steve to do because I think he really cares
about his employees. We are all hoping the
new owners keep us there. It wouldn`t make much sense to bring in a bunch of people
who know nothing about what we do.Amy your
a good person thanks for the offer.

I worked at freedom for 7 years. It was a great company to work for. I came in and started on the floor, then became the fabrication side production supervisor. Steve is a good person. In the slow time he would try his hardest to keep everyone employeed. Hardly ever seen layoffs. Steve did take profits and invest back into the company. Maybe to much. But his intentions were there to make the company the best. I agree that when certain salaried employees became VP's is when morale in the company went out the window. Seems like all they worried about is where they should park their cars. (close to the door)All in all I hope eveyone the best. And to my good friend Tom let me know if you are looking. I'll hire you in a heartbeat.

Great Company. Community Minded. Outstanding, well trained, and innovative employees. I worked in HR at FP from 97-2005 and have tremendous respect for all their employees. I do hope the sale works out and the new owner is able to retain employees. If looking for employment, I do anticipate some hiring in the spring/summer please review our website for hiring information this spring/summer.

Amy Parkhurst, SPHR, GPHR
Director, Global Human Resources
BouMatic / PureLabs / Therma-Stor
www.boumatic.com
www.purelabs.com
www.thermastor.com
aparkhurst@boumatic.com

I'll ask again, when were you fired?

the gm bashers should be happy huh? another domino in the janesville economy falls. soon the only ones with a job will be those in the unemployment office taking aps. frankly it almost dosn't matter who a person points the finger at for this one, a loss is a loss. and there goes more tax base, at least, it is a possibility.

Yeah, you know what's going on, right....but when were you fired?

FIrst line in story reads "Faced with mounting debt and the lack of the time or money to satisfy creditors" That has way more to do with inside issues than it does the state of the economy.

Rabbit I know what goes on there and I knew what was going on. I think the place has a chance to grow if a few vp's and mangers were better trained or let go. I would prefer them to get the training, because I hate to see anyone lose a job, especially in this economy.

Wow, that's a viscious statement. How long ago did you get fired from there?

"sorry", you obviously have no clue about who does what at that company or what led to their demise. I think Scaccia has plenty to do with what happened there.

justmythoughts I was saying if you quit buying in THE USA the companies will downsize and more people will end up jobless. The whole economy is falling here and its not just because some stores sell china crap it is because our corporations are going to other countries for less wage payout. less taxes to pay, cheaper parts etc...etc...How many companies have left the USA in the last 10 years? You got statisics on that? Id like to see the reality of loss we the American workers have suffered. IMO All i was stating is to support what companies and stores we have left. If it means buying any product they sell, it is helping our economy IMO, as it is SOLD HERE. by the way I have a smaller budget and can't afford to pay high prices and I bet alot of the people in here are in the same way. The sales are my target and what ever is on sale that I NEED I do buy it. Cutting corners to conserve is where most people seem to be. Again I say we need to support the businesses we have reguardless............IMO

I am a former employee of Freedom also. I have to agree with most peoples assessment of Steve Scaccia. He was a wonderful employer and has and will do everything to keep Freedom Plastics going here in Jville. I also have to agree that some of the people that are under him have questionable management skills. I have to say I dont miss the abusive language that was used by some of the VP's and Managers. Anyway I really enjoyed my time there and hope that they survive this down turn and once again become profitable. One last thing a shout out to BRO. I miss ya man you taught me a lot.

It's a shame local retailers don't carry freedom plastic products. Like Blain's Farm and Fleet. Local businesses should work hand in hand.

justmythoughts: For you to think that Bush caused all of this is dead wrong. These things are cyclical and have been happening for years. Your commment is ignorant and only divides this country. Right now our government both republican and democrat is not working. They only seem to be able to see the short term solutions and not long term. Quit giving me a tax break that I will not spend. I like most other Americans will save it because of all the uncertainty we live in. The tax breaks are a short sighted move. Invest that money into our future, public education and higher education. Invest it in the infrastructure of our nation. Over half of the new 800 billion dollar stimulus package is full of pork barrel spending. The other half is trying to solve short term goals that won't get us anywhere in 5 years, or sooner.

*

Stop the bashing and look for solutions, demand more from our government. Write to Sheridan and let him know you are not happy that he took it pay raise, that you and I are paying for. In a time like this his decision was irresponsible at best.

My thought and prayers go out to the Freedom Plastic workforce. It is sad to hear that yet another business in our community has filed for bankruptcy. I dont understand how some places are closing and others are expanding in the very same community? It makes me nervous that the expanding companies are maybe sacrificing quality of care or once again not thinking/caring about the little guy that keeps the company running and if they need to down size because of over spending "Good-bye little guy". Mr.Scassia is a wonderful person and I also agree with a comment made earlier by "ihavealife" that he did all that he could. Good luck and God Bless to the Union Reps may you ask many questions and hopfully receive answers in the interest of and for the workers.

Greed is a major component of capitalism...always has been...always will be.

Anything construction-related is in dire straits now, so it would be surprising if Freedom were NOT affected. At least it kept a number of people working during the housing and CRE bubble.
.
There are a lot of businesses now that are one payroll away from BK.

temptanny2803 people are already getting laid-off no more second or third shift & only 1/2 of first left.

I agree softail! Hows your new job?

I also believe we should buy american. To the one about levis. go to union jeans .com they r made in california and r sold in madison and lake geneva

deborah21154 out of all these blogs you are the only one to make sense

I have known Steve since the 70's. He runs a good company, but probably got caught up in the credit crunch (nice TARP program)like so many other businesses. I also hope a buyer (probably somebody foreign) will help out also.

Freedom Plastics is a world-class manufacturer, and it's a sorry state of affairs when such a competitive company seems to be on the ropes. I hope Mr. Scacia is successful at hooking up with a buyer who will appreciate Freedom Plastic's talented and dedicated workforce

Thank you for the clarification. I was speaking of GM wages, of course.

"The UAW is (was) the only union in town that provided above average wages."

I just want to set something straight. The UAW was the union for a number of non GM places. The non GM places had no where near the wages or other benefits that GM had. And when those places folded the concessions weren't a fraction of what GM is getting.

I was not making fun of job loss I was talking about getting a REAL UNION back in the work force ONE WITH GUTS. I am a paycheck away from losing mine, as is a whole lot of us. I have been union all my life and wouldn't want it any other way. JUST my Opinion

Every store in Janesville has foreign clothing so where will we shop? I worked for a company here that made things and we had to put made in china on them lol.....Will your car run without its foreign parts? My last car was made in Canada. Our frames for the GM plant were made in Mexico and we could go on and on with these type of examples . The bottom line is, We need to support all businesses in THE USA and buy here as it is in our country and our Americans are employed by them and it is income for our country. Get over the long gone issues and get into the issues at hand, which is our falling economy that needs all of us Americans to join together as a country and support ALL US businesses and buy from them, I hope we can.....

gmaof3 "I'm not Union bashing here (though I think they out-lived their usefulness decades ago)."

Obviously you have never been in a position or known anyone getting screwed by management in decades...or I think your outlook on unions would be different.

Ya...Jimmy Hoffa too.

WE need Jimmy Huffa where is he

"If you have the opportunity to take a cut in pay and return to the job you had, (as a Union worker) but without the Union wages..."

What are 'Union wages'? Are you assuming the workers at Freedom Plastics make higher wages than other non-union manufacturing? The UAW is (was) the only union in town that provided above average wages. Also, wages (either direct or overhead) are only a fraction of the total cost to run a business. If there are not enough sales to support the business, no amount of wage concessions will help.

Let me play "devils advocate" here... If you have the opportunity to take a cut in pay and return to the job you had, (as a Union worker) but without the Union wages, would you take it? Knowing the sad shape of the economy with Rock County having the highest unemployment rate in the state.

I am truly curious as to what people are considering as options. I'm not Union bashing here (though I think they out-lived their usefulness decades ago). I would really like to know what people are willing to do, to support their families. What concessions would you make to keep food on the table?

How could this happen? Doesn't everyone need to lay some new pipe everyyear

This is disappointing news. I have no doubt it is difficult for both management and the union workers. Hopefully, brighter days will be coming ...

This is not the first time for Freedom to be in financial trouble. They filed bankruptcy back in the late 80's also. They managed to make it out and survived for another 25 some years.

"Excuse Me" I hope the Union will work with the new owners not the other way around.

Yet another blow to our sad economic state. My thoughts and good wishes go out to each and every hard working American who has lost their job to these tough economic times. Let's try and pull together and get through them stronger than ever.

opps spelling poilce check... "gets" sold

Sorry (dang typo fairies)

Not good........I hope the new owners if it get sold in these tough times keeps the employees that work there working.....Good Luck!!!!!

STAY SAFE!!