OLIVIA -- It's been five weeks since workers reported to their jobs at Minnesota Beef Industries in Buffalo Lake and were told to go home after the packing plant was shut down.
Some of those workers have found other jobs in the meat packing industry, according to Belinda Garcia DeLaCruz, one of the displaced workers.
But Garcia DeLaCruz said that about half of the 150 workers displaced by the plant's closing on Feb. 24 remain without jobs.
They now find themselves struggling to come up with ends meet, and most are ineligible for the normal assistance provided when a plant closes.
"Basic needs,'' Garcia DeLaCruz said. "We're not asking for money to go to the movies. We need basic needs to feed our children if they are hungry."
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Garcia DeLaCruz is part of a newly formed team of public and private agencies in Renville and McLeod Counties.
The team was at the Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Center in Olivia on Friday to organize an effort to assist the displaced workers.
Most of the displaced workers remain in the area in hopes the plant will re-open, Garcia DeLaCruz said.
One rumor floating amongst the workers is word that the plant will re-open in a few months, or no later than September, she said.
Bill Gilger, the principal owner, was reportedly in transient on Friday and could not be reached for comment. He has indicated interest in seeing the plant re-open, said Mayor Joyce Nyhus of Buffalo Lake.
While they wait in hopes of getting their jobs back, many of the displaced workers are without any sort of assistance. Most of the displaced workers are ineligible for unemployment insurance and dislocated workers services, according to Cathy Baumgartner, business resource representative, Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Center, Olivia.
They legally held jobs at Buffalo Lake Beef Industries, but for a wide range of reasons they are not eligible for help, she said. Most had work permits, but they lack permanent residence status. Or, they lacked the full year of work experience in the industry that is required for dislocated worker and public assistance help.
The Central Minnesota Jobs and Training office has hired Garcia DeLaCruz to help them get word to the workers about the help that will be forthcoming. Many workers are living in Buffalo Lake, Hector and Stuart, but some are living as far away as Litchfield, according to Mike Goldman, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
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Goldman donated $100 of his own funds to open up an account at the CenBank in Buffalo Lake to accept donations on behalf of the displaced workers.
The UFCW is organizing a financial and food package to benefit the displaced workers. Area food shelves, churches in the Buffalo Lake area, Heartland Community Action Agency, the Salvation Army and the Common Cup ministerial group are also working to provide help. They are organizing an event April 12 in the Buffalo Lake Community Center at which the displaced workers can obtain information and help.
Garcia DeLaCruz said that she has been among the more fortunate of the displaced workers. She had just received her income tax refund when the plant closed. "I'm making that dollar stretch like no other,'' she said.
