QUAKERTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Workers at a closing Bucks County roofing plant have voted to approve the company's final severance offer.
About 50 members of the International Association of Machinists Local 1761 voted overwhelmingly in favor of the deal Friday in Sellersville. Workers turned down a previous offer two weeks ago.
GAF Materials of Wayne, N.J., announced in January that it would close the Pacific Drive plant in Richland Township, citing the slumping housing market. Officials say they expect a total of 110 union and nonunion employees to be laid off.
''I don't have anything lined up,'' said David Leh, 50, of Allentown. ''But I do have two applications in.''
Leh, who has worked at the plant for seven years, will get $1,000 in severance. Workers with fewer than five years at the plant will get $750 and those with more than 25 years at the plant will get $4,000.
Union representative Bill Snyder said most workers will have health insurance through the end of March and can then continue coverage for about $1,000 a month. He said he did not think the workers were given severance comparable to those at other plants recently closed by the company.
''There isn't much out there, especially in the range of the wages we were earning,'' Snyder said, referring to the average hourly wage of $17 at the GAF plant. ''I see a lot of $10-an-hour jobs out there that won't pay my bills.''
GAF officials did not return calls seeking comment Friday.
