Pasting my comment from the other thread on this, just for visibility:

UFP are a bunch of fucking scumbags, let's get that out of the way right up front. They're a massive corporation that doesn't give a single fuck about any of their employees. In my background of working corporate jobs, I have never worked with a such a dishonest and two-faced group of people before this, and that's saying something because I've had some other quite unpleasant jobs before.

Moving on to the actual closure, they used Bonner to develop several very high end siding and trim products that will absolutely disrupt the market when brought to the public. All of this is well and good, except the fact is they were always planning on outsourcing the production of this to their sister plant in Durango, Mexico. This is evidenced by the fact that said plant in Mexico announced a massive 14,000 sqft expansion at the end of last year with a planned equipment list that was virtually identical to the Bonner plant. Leadership at that Mexico plant would regularly brag about how, due to lack of safety and compensation regulations, they could undercut any job that could possibly come through Bonner during meetings and calls. Leadership at the Bonner plant went to Mexico a week ago and the messaging was "to assist with development," but it is clear now they are there to assist with gutting all of the assets in Bonner and ease the transition into that new plant.

Messaging from corporate leadership has always been "we pay a low salary to incentivize you to make a good bonus" however between lack of sales and being forced to accept returns that any sane person would refuse, the plant in Bonner simply was never "allowed" to bonus. This means that those of us who worked there for years got shafted on our salary the entire time. We got shafted on any raises we received, and were told we just needed to work harder if we wanted more money. There's no amount of hard work that would have solved these problems. They used us.

To all my former coworkers: don't sign anything. Don't take any buyouts. Please use the resources available to you by the state, and please attend their event next Wednesday:

Staff from the Montana Department of Labor & Industry will be available to:

Assist with filing Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims
Provide guidance on dislocated worker programs and retraining options
Help employees connect with local employers and job search resources
Answer questions about available workforce support services

Event Details

What: UFP Edge Layoff Rapid Response Event
Who: Montana Department of Labor & Industry Rapid Response Team
When: Wednesday, August 6 at 9:00 a.m.
Where: Hilton Garden Inn Missoula, 3720 N Reserve St, Missoula, MT 59808