It’s been a quarter of a century since the shutters came down at the Goodyear Tyre manufacturing plant on the outskirts of Morant Bay in St Thomas.

For many residents of the rural town it has been akin to a doctor switching off a life support machine.

Goodyear was the economic bedrock of not just Morant Bay and St Thomas, but it offered a steady stream of income for workers from Portland and even farther afield, including Kingston.

For Wayne Rose, it was as if time stood still when news broke on March 21, 1997 that the plant would be closing its doors for good. “I stood at the bank door for literally 45 minutes thinking, ‘what is this?’. It’s as if the world was closing in around me because I could sense what was coming. Somehow, I knew that Morant Bay and St Thomas would never be the same again.”

The plant’s closure affected approximately 148 salaried and hourly paid workers.

A news release issued by the parent company from its Akron, Ohio base on March 24, 1997, said displaced employees may be eligible for benefits as provided under applicable Jamaican laws and under applicable employee benefit plans of Goodyear Jamaica, Ltd. Displaced hourly union employees are covered by the applicable plant closure provisions outlined in the current labour contract between Goodyear Jamaica, Ltd, and the University and Allied Workers Union.”

It continued: “The closing is not a reflection of the effort put forth by Goodyear associates, their union or local officials.”

John Polhemus, vice-president of the Latin American region, said: “Intense pressure from lower-cost producers, the plant’s small size and Goodyear’s ability to service this market with products from more efficient and competitive production sources, dictated the decision.”

This was hardly comforting for workers like Rose who said employment opportunities became few after the full redundancy exercise kicked in. “Quite a few of the guys turned to taxi work or farming or whatever else they could find to do. When Goodyear closed there was a chain reaction. Many establishments closed — cook shops, bars, street vendors — it was a domino effect. That vibrancy has never been recovered and Morant Bay has become a retail town with shops, wholesales and no production.

“Sometimes in my dreams I see it reopening. It pains my heart to see it lying there. People still talk about it. You hear things like ‘Boy when Goodyear did deh yah we coulda put we pot a fire’. The bank used to make a specific line for Goodyear workers every Friday and the town was buzzing.

“Goodyear was my first real employment and it taught me a lot of discipline. It created opportunities for so many persons and people are waiting with bated breaths for some kind of activity of that scale to return to the parish.”

The Government has announced a massive redevelopment plan for the Goodyear facility and lands to include a municipal centre to house government offices and service industries like business processing outsourcing (BPOs) centres. But there is little hope that manufacturing will ocne again take centre stage as it did when the Minister of Trade and Industry Robert Lightbourne made the bold move to take Goodyear to St Thomas.

“We have heard of the grand plans for the civic centre and I would like to see the new development because it has been embedded in us that St Thomas is the forgotten parish. But how will that translate into jobs? Over the years we have had so many promises and with three years passed and nothing has been done, people feel like it is another political gimmick to get votes. But they have promised that the BPO sector will come and that would be great for the young people because we have a serious issue with our young people migrating to Kingston after they leave high school.”

Wayne was a cured tyre inspector who would check tyres for defects. He took great pride in his job and was particularly pleased to have been able to work on the same plant as his father who worked in the engineering section as a welder.

Henry Rose is now approaching 81 years old and he spent 27 years working at Goodyear.

“I was able to send two of my children to college through that company. It broke my heart when it closed because it provided opportunity for so many families. Goodyear was the best thing that happened to St Thomas. People have been trying to get along in some ways since the closure but many have had to migrate and many have died. Still we await the day when that space will become economically useful to us again.

“Before this big plan that they have been talking about recently, a lot of money has been spent on different plans. I hear that up to $40 million has been spent and I know of at least two occasions when they have said things are going to happen. I don’t know if this third time will be the charm.”

For Henry Rose, Goodyear will always have a special place in his heart. “We had some good times at Goodyear — the pay package might not have been so great but the production workers in particular enjoyed it. They had several plants in America, Belgium, Brasil, England and other places. They sent lots of local staff at all levels overseas to be trained.”

He described the company as a caring institution that saw to the welfare of its employees. “We had a saving programme and the company would match whatever we saved throughout the year. We would be taken on excursions all over the place and everyone should be able to say they were pleased to be working at Goodyear.”

Still, the writing was always on the wall and disparities in economies of scale would have surely dealt Goodyear the death knell.

Rose recalled: “In 1990 there was a general meeting regarding closure. They told us the number of plants that were closed around the globe, but Jamaica was holding its own and they tried to persevere but it was never to be.”

He said Morant Bay was fortunate to have got Goodyear in the first place. “As I understand it, it should have gone to Cuba but because of the politics at the time it was decided to take it to Jamaica. Robert Lightbourne was able to negotiate and get it here. It was originally designated for Westmoreland but because he was the MP for this area, he decided to bring it to Morant Bay.”

Rose had a barb for then union representative Lambert Brown whom he accused of not having detailed dialogue with the workers about their separation benefits, including pension. “A lot of people ended up taking their pension and they would have been better off now if it had remained there, given the situation we are faced with now.”

For many, there is no pension right now but the company still makes a gratuitous payment to the workers. “We still get a little something but if the whole union process had gone down well, most people would be getting a proper pension and could be doing a little better off,” he said.

Josephine Sproul was the first female apprentice employed by Goodyear in 1986. She eventually landed a job in the engineering stores and eventually moved into production where she did quality control.

She said that these days she can hardly drive by the plant without a heavy sigh. “It is hard to even glance over there because there are so many memories. While we can say we saw it coming, I don’t think the Government gave enough concessions with the onset of globalisation. Many people say the union led to the closure of the plant but that isn’t true. The fact is that plants in Brasil and other places were producing quantities in a week that we would do in a month.”

The closure has had a devastating effect on the parish. Communities like Seaforth, Trinityville, Port Morant, Bath and many others have felt it hard. The parish went dormant – banana and sugar were going down and Goodyear was the lynchpin. The parish has not recovered. It was a major earner and we are waiting eagerly for a return when that space will make economic sense to us again.

While she wants to see the space transformed, she does not believe that it should be used for just any purpose. “When the prime minister visited a couple of years ago they showed a mockup to include all the government offices in one place. But I’m not sure that’s the best use of the area because there is a lot of water and if they should put an industry that needs steam power that would make better use of the natural resources because there is a lot of water. I surely wouldn’t want them to use it for housing and I don’t think we have enough government agencies to make full use of all that land space. It needs something that can actually generate employment and productivity.”

All in all, things are looking up for St Thomas. With a brand new highway set to run through the parish, land and house prices are on the rise. “We are praying that the Government comes through with a good plan because St Thomas needs it. Goodyear will always be in our hearts but now we need something to look forward to, so we remain hopeful,” Sproul said.