CHARLELOI, Pa. – A century-old glass factory is closing, putting 300 people out of work, but Republican Dave McCormick, challenging Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, wants to save it.
“I'm here today in solidarity with these workers in the fight to keep these jobs,” McCormick told the assembled workers, retirees and their families on Friday.
Anchor Hocking Co. announced plans this month to close the Corelle brand factory that makes iconic Pyrex glassware and has been a pillar of the local economy since 1892.
The plant survived the closure of steel mills and coal mines that led to the decline of the Mon Valley's industrial community in the 1980s.
The plant's owners are now planning to dismantle the facility and move it to Ohio, but the workers are using all their resources to try to stop this.
Danielle Byrne, vice president of United Steelworkers Local 53G, whose grandfather worked at the plant and who met her husband there, said closing the plant “will hurt more than 300 families and destroy the pride of the Mon Valley.”
Byrne said he called many people “to try and save us” but got no response. “The first person to offer to come to Charleroi was Dave McCormick.”
“I know what happens when community anchors shrink or disappear,” McCormick said, recalling how a friend's parents struggled after a carpet factory in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, where she attended high school, closed.
“I don't want to see this factory leave Charleroi and I don't want to see its employees lose their jobs. I will continue to fight for them until victory is within sight,” he declared.
The glassworks was the second stop on McCormick's “The Cost of Poor Leadership” tour, which gave the former hedge fund executive an opportunity to focus on the concerns of working-class Pennsylvanians and criticize Casey, who spent nearly 18 years as a senator.
The strategy appears to be working: Three new polls have shown Casey's longtime lead shrinking, with one showing just a one-point lead.
Mr. McCormick arrived on a giant campaign bus and shook hands with workers, who handed him Pyrex items, including the ubiquitous glass measuring cups.
Dozens of workers formed a wall behind him lined with signs that read “Keep Making Pyrex in Charleroi,” with a gap between them revealing a yellow McCormick campaign sign that read “Bob Stays, Pennsylvania Will Pay.”
“I don't know how I'm going to raise my kids in a town without industry,” Erin Guzik, whose boyfriend is a factory supervisor, told The Washington Post.
The veterinary nurse is undecided about who she'll vote for in the White House and Senate, having voted for the Green Party in 2016 and for President Biden in 2020.
But, she said, “Now that Dave McCormick has come forward and supported us, I'm leaning more towards him.”
Guzik said he called numerous Democratic offices, including those of Casey, Sen. John Fetterman and Gov. Josh Shapiro, but did not receive a response.
“I was surprised they weren't here because they support the Mon Valley and its industry staying in the valley,” she said.
She welcomed Casey's support but said “there's nothing he's done that has helped me.”
Casey is letter I called Anchor Hocking CEO Mark Eichhorn last week to ask why the company chose to “turn the lives of Pennsylvania workers upside down” and how it got regulatory approval to take control of the plant after its private-equity parent's request was rejected last year.
Casey's letter echoes the concerns of local union leader Byrne, who accused Anchor Hockings of “price fixing and market manipulation” and called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate “whether unfair trading occurred.”
Anchor Hocking did not respond to a request for comment.
McCormick told The Washington Post that he supports the FTC's investigation into Anchor Hocking's decision to close its stores there, saying, “I want to know why, and the local people whose livelihoods are affected by this decision have a right to understand why.”
The workers certainly agreed.
“The FTC should have stopped that sale,” mechanic Don Roots shouted from the crowd. “Ask the FTC!”
During his speech, McCormick repeatedly criticized Casey about the plant closure and problems across the Keystone State.
“Runaway inflation is putting pressure on all businesses,” he said. “There's too much regulation and Treasury Secretary Bob Casey isn't doing anything about it.”
“Bob Casey has let you down on every front,” McCormick added. “He talks a lot about manufacturing jobs, but he's done nothing to make your jobs easier and preserve the great opportunities here in Charleroi.”
Casey campaign spokeswoman Kate Smart responded by calling McCormick “a symbol of Wall Street greed that has put jobs at risk at companies like Anchor Hocking.”
Don Root, who voted for both Obama and Trump, shook McCormick's hand and told The Washington Post he appreciated the candidate being “supportive.”
“Anyone can write a letter,” he says, “but showing up makes all the difference in the world.”
