Life after the pink slip

  • Steve Powell / Herald Writer
  • Saturday, December 15, 2001 9:00pm
  • Business

By Steve Powell

Herald Writer

MARYSVILLE — They’re worried about losing their three-bedroom house.

They’re worried about paying for her heart medicine that costs about $160 a month.

In front of their house is a sign that reads: Grandma and Grandpa’s place; kids spoiled here; Pretty soon you could add, "UNEMPLOYED."

Guy and Charlotte Tindall are victims of Boeing’s second round of layoffs. Notices went out recently to Guy and thousands of other Boeing workers who are being laid off because of a downturn in the airline industry following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. On Friday, they’ll be joined by even more people as Boeing issues a new round of layoff notices.

Despite the turn in their lives, the Tindalls are amazingly upbeat.

"You’ve got to be," Charlotte said. "You can’t survive down in the dumps. "

Their top concern, of course, is Charlotte’s health. Now 54, she’s had three heart attacks since she was 40. She had her first one just weeks after Guy got on with Boeing, working on the Minuteman missiles in Montana in 1989.

"Right then I decided to stay with Boeing, no matter what," Guy said.

But Boeing had other plans. He’s been laid off twice before, the last time in 1993.

He went to school — Boeing paid for it — for about 1/2 years.

"When you’re older it’s harder" going to school, he said. "Your mind doesn’t pick things up as well."

When money got tight he ended up moving back to Montana to take seasonal work paving roads. But he soon was recalled by Boeing.

"I don’t know if I’ll ever go back, unless I’m called right away," he said. "I don’t like the cycle — up and down."

Guy, 60, had worked most of his life for his father and then himself, so he was hoping Boeing was his answer for retirement.

It wasn’t.

"I’ll have to work ‘til I die," he said, adding he had planned to retire at 72.

The Tindalls worry about not being able to afford their home. They live in a fairly new subdivision in north Marysville called Kellogg Village.

"We put all our savings into this," Guy said.

Their pride and joy is their backyard waterfall and pond —last summer’s project.

"Our nest egg’s in our back yard," Charlotte said.

"We saved for a rainy day, but we thought that was a few years ago," Guy added.

He hopes to find a job in heavy construction, and he’s also a mechanic. Still, Charlotte is worried.

"Thousands are going to be going after the same jobs," she said.

They could go back to Montana, but they don’t want to. There are better doctors here, plus, three of their four kids and their grandkids live here now.

"Montana’s a nice place, but it’s hard to make a living" there, she said.

Guy said his jobs there often took him hundreds of miles from home.

"You can’t drive home after work," he said with a laugh.

In Montana, the Tindalls, who’ve been married since 1965, owned a family video store for 12 years.

"The town wasn’t big enough for a Blockbuster," Charlotte said. "It wouldn’t work here" in Marysville. Charlotte, who’s had bypass surgery because of a genetic heart problem, said they are not mad at Boeing. She admits they’ve been spoiled by the high wages and excellent benefits. She said she’s probably received half a million dollars in medical benefits.

Guy added he’s enjoyed the work, and "I don’t begrudge anyone who was retained" because it was based on seniority.

Because he’s worked there nine years, he will receive nine weeks of pay and, he thinks, three months of health insurance. But that’s one of the problems. The company’s been slow about getting information to laid-off workers.

"Nobody seems to know what’s going on," Guy said.

He said it was hard getting his pink slip. He wouldn’t even take it from his supervisor, who laid it on a car as Guy was changing a fan belt.

"I had to open it" when he got home, Charlotte said.

"I didn’t want to" open it, Guy said. "I wanna keep my job."

One of the hardest things now is not knowing what will happen. They don’t know if Charlotte will be able to get on disability. She’s tried before and couldn’t.

Charlotte said she’d work a part-time job as a receptionist if she could get some benefits.

"Don’t worry. I’ll find a job someplace," Guy insisted as their yellow lab, Ellie, bounced around the room while cat Millie lounged nearby.

The last time Guy was laid off, he lived in a trailer in Lynnwood outside one of his kids’ home while Charlotte stayed in Lewiston, Mont. It was a long commute, 800 miles, 14 hours by car, but they did it for years.

While that was hard, the layoffs are even harder this time, with worries about a mortgage payment and a van and truck costs, along with the medical concerns, Charlotte said.

"They didn’t affect so many people. It’s a whole new ballgame. You don’t know if you’ll ever get a job back."

Ironically, Charlotte had a physical the day she had her first heart attack. She had a problem with the main artery.

Her pills keep her heart rate at a normal pace. The first heart attack damaged 39 percent of her heart, with 4 percent moredamage in each of the other two. She also lost 32 percent of her lung capacity in the first attack.

Every few months she has to go back to the hospital, which always costs in the thousands of dollars, they said.

They are trying to look ahead. They did get their interest rates lowered to 6 percent on their Discover card. And Guy applied at the International Union of Operating Engineers, but there are 467 people ahead of him.

Guy’s a little upset about being laid off in the second round. He said those in the first wave have a head start in finding new jobs.

He’s also upset with Boeing because, before, workers were given an incentive to retire. But partial retirement this time would only bring him a few hundred dollars a month.

And it angers him that some subcontractors are still working, while Boeing employees are losing their jobs. He thinks the company should look after its employees first.

"It’s my job on the line," he snapped, obviously no longer upbeat. "They don’t need me."

You can call Herald Writer Steve Powell at 425-339-3427

or send e-mail to powell@heraldnet.com.

JUSTIN BEST / The Herald

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

A closing sign hangs above the entrance of the Big Lots at Evergreen and Madison on Monday, July 22, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Big Lots announces it will shutter Everett and Lynnwood stores

The Marysville store will remain open for now. The retailer reported declining sales in the first quarter of the year.

George Montemor poses for a photo in front of his office in Lynnwood, Washington on Tuesday, July 30, 2024.  (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Despite high mortgage rates, Snohomish County home market still competitive

Snohomish County homes priced from $550K to $850K are pulling in multiple offers and selling quickly.

Henry M. Jackson High School’s robotic team, Jack in the Bot, shake hands at the 2024 Indiana Robotics Invitational.(Henry M. Jackson High School)
Mill Creek robotics team — Jack in the Bot — wins big

Henry M. Jackson High School students took first place at the Indiana Robotic Invitational for the second year in a row.

The computer science and robotics and artificial intelligence department faculty includes (left to right) faculty department head Allison Obourn; Dean Carey Schroyer; Ishaani Priyadarshini; ROBAI department head Sirine Maalej and Charlene Lugli. PHOTO: Arutyun Sargsyan / Edmonds College.
Edmonds College to offer 2 new four-year degree programs

The college is accepting applications for bachelor programs in computer science as well as robotics and artificial intelligence.

FILE — Boeing 737 MAX8 airplanes on the assembly line at the Boeing plant in Renton, Wash., on March 27, 2019. Boeing said on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, that it was shaking up the leadership in its commercial airplanes unit after a harrowing incident last month during which a piece fell off a 737 Max 9 jet in flight. (Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)
Federal judge rejects Boeing’s guilty plea related to 737 Max crashes

The plea agreement included a fine of up to $487 million and three years of probation.

Neetha Hsu practices a command with Marley, left, and Andie Holsten practices with Oshie, right, during a puppy training class at The Everett Zoom Room in Everett, Washington on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Tricks of the trade: New Everett dog training gym is a people-pleaser

Everett Zoom Room offers training for puppies, dogs and their owners: “We don’t train dogs, we train the people who love them.”

Andy Bronson/ The Herald 

Everett mayor Ray Stephenson looks over the city on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2015 in Everett, Wa. Stephanson sees  Utah’s “housing first” model – dealing with homelessness first before tackling related issues – is one Everett and Snohomish County should adopt.

Local:issuesStephanson

Shot on: 1/5/16
Economic Alliance taps former Everett mayor as CEO

Ray Stephanson will serve as the interim leader of the Snohomish County group.

Molbak's Garden + Home in Woodinville, Washington will close on Jan. 28. (Photo courtesy of Molbak's)
After tumultuous year, Molbak’s is being demolished in Woodinville

The beloved garden store closed in January. And a fundraising initiative to revitalize the space fell short.

Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, Advanced Manufacturing Skills Center executive director Larry Cluphf, Boeing Director of manufacturing and safety Cameron Myers, Edmonds College President Amit Singh, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, and Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, July 2 celebrating the opening of a new fuselage training lab at Paine Field. Credit: Arutyun Sargsyan / Edmonds College
‘Magic happens’: Paine Field aerospace center dedicates new hands-on lab

Last month, Edmonds College officials cut the ribbon on a new training lab — a section of a 12-ton Boeing 767 tanker.

Gov. Jay Inslee presents CEO Fredrik Hellstrom with the Swedish flag during a grand opening ceremony for Sweden-based Echandia on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Marysville, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Swedish battery maker opens first U.S. facility in Marysville

Echandia’s marine battery systems power everything from tug boats to passenger and car ferries.

Helion Energy CEO and co-founder David Kirtley talks to Governor Jay Inslee about Trenta, Helion’s 6th fusion prototype, during a tour of their facility on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
State grants Everett-based Helion a fusion energy license

The permit allows Helion to use radioactive materials to operate the company’s fusion generator.

People walk past the new J.sweets storefront in Alderwood Mall on Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Japanese-style sweets shop to open in Lynnwood

J. Sweets, offering traditional Japanese and western style treats opens, could open by early August at the Alderwood mall.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.