Yolanda Nathan stepped onto the bed of a red pickup truck outside of Master Lock, her employer, to offer fellow union workers some hope – and an apology.

“First off, I want to say, I’m sorry,” Nathan said. “I know that Fortune Brands would not say that. I want to be the first to say – I'm sorry this is happening to us. It’s not fair to be told that your hard work isn’t good enough anymore.”

Dozens of workers from United Auto Workers Local 469 picketed Wednesday outside of the employee entrance of Master Lock, which is owned by Fortune Brands to say the decision to close the facility in 2024 was not acceptable.

They were joined by Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson, other supporters and area union members.

More than 400 people, including more than 330 union workers, stand to lose their jobs. Workers at the plant make parts for locks assembled in Mexico.

“I want this plant open," Johnson said at the event. "I want it to stay open.”

Nathan is about to become president of UAW Local 469 during one of the most difficult times in its history.

On May 23, workers were informed by the company that it planned to close the 102 year old facility in 2024.

“I thought they were joking,” Nathan said, adding the week before the announcement the company told the workers at the facility that it was the top producing and delivering facility in the company. “We went from 85% to 103% on-time delivery... we were doing great. And to be told that wasn’t good enough, it was devastating.”

Nathan said the decision to close the facility “doesn’t make sense.”

“They just invested in machinery,” Nathan said. “They invested in a new elevator, new press dyes, two new screw machines... the answer they’re giving us doesn’t make sense, why they’re doing this.”

“It’s not us.”

Nathan has worked for Master Lock for nearly 20 years and said the workers were engaged in the community, often having clothing and toy drives for Clarke Street Public School nearby and working with the area Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee.

“Every six months we walk around (the neighborhood) picking up paper, we actually work in the community with the community,” Nathan said. “It’s not just us fighting for us, the employees; we’re fighting for the community.”

'We're losing everything'

Sixty-year-old Lorraine Baker started working for Master Lock in 2020.

Baker said was happy when she got the job because being and older, Black woman, she wasn’t sure who would hire her.

“They gave me a chance,” Baker said adding it was a convenient place to work because she only lives about two miles away from the facility.

But now she’s worried about her future.

“I’m too old to go somewhere else and put in an application, who’s going to hire me?” Baker said. “This is where I planned on finishing off (work and) retire… now I have to look somewhere else. I can’t compete with an 18 or 20 year old.”

Baker said the company told them each worker would have a one-on-one meeting to discuss their future options, but she hasn’t heard anything from the company in the last seven days.

“We’re losing our jobs, we’re losing our medical (insurance), we’re losing everything,” Baker said. “And they haven’t told us anything.”

In 2012, then-President Barack Obama visit the facility to tout job creation.

Mayor Johnson said his aunt worked at the company and lead Obama around the facility during the visit.

“I find this so ironic that a little more than a decade after this company sat there and welcomed in and indulged in the attention of the president of the United States, they now are cutting these jobs,” Johnson said.

“The message that we want to send right now is that this plant and you, the workers here, you guys are important. You’re important to Master Lock. You’re important to this community.”

County Board Chairwoman Nicholson said companies like Master Lock decades ago helped create a middle class in the city, particularly for the Black community.

“Then we saw how company after company left our beautiful city to pursue profits over the very people who made these companies as great as they are, through their hard tireless work,” Nicholson said.

“We saw our community fall into despair after those companies left. We cannot let it happen again. We are going to fight to save this plant.”

County Executive Crowley said the decision to close the facility "demonstrates a lack of vision."

"This decision impedes on our vision for all Milwaukee County residents to achieve equity. Not just racial and health equity but pay equity at the same time," Crowley said.

"Losing good-paying, family-sustaining jobs in the heart of Milwaukee County only makes it that much more difficult for individuals to succeed."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Union members, Mayor Johnson protest Master Lock plant closing decision