If Mercury Marine moves out of Fond du Lac, it’s not going to be good, in the opinion of at least one small business owner. The manufacturer of outboard marine engines could soon leave Wisconsin. Over 800 union workers on Sunday rejected a package of wage and benefit concessions the firm says it needed to remain profitable. Mercury say the vote could force it to move hundreds of jobs to a non-union plant in Oklahoma.
Cheryl Millay owns and operates the Three Aces North bar in the city, and feels there will be more to go. “It’s going to effect everybody and everything,” she says, predicting that “at least ten” taverns will close down as a result of the job loss.
Mercury Marine is also threatening to move their headquarters to Oklahoma. “We are going to be like another Janesville and another Detroit,” says Millay. The union has until Saturday to re-vote, if it wishes. The company says it will not change anything on its end.
Submitted by Chandra Lynn, WIBA