The Stories Project: Oregon Livelihoods Traded Away

Angela Kile Residence: Hermiston, OR Occupation: former quality assurance tech JR Simplot

Snapshots "When we take away someone's livelihood, we take away their pride; we take away their sense of self. Because a lot of these people spent most of their lives working at Simplot. We took away who they were. " "That's pretty much how I feel about the situation. It was really good for me. It was great for me. Because I was able to take up on the opportunity. A lot of people aren't. They cannot financially afford to live on unemployment while they are going to college. They've got mouths to feed. I've got a husband who feeds our mouths for us. Thank God. If I was a single mom there's no way I could have done this. " "One of the guys I knew that went to work at another facility had been at Simplot for 27 years --been there since the plant opened. He took a job at another facility here that's just a joke. People I saw treated with utmost respect at Simplot that I would never in a million years ever dream of back talking are being treated like dogs at other facilities. And they hear from other facilities, 'We don't like the Simplot people; we don't want to hear about Simplot. This isn't Simplot. Get over it.' That's what these people are hearing when they get new jobs. It's not a very encouraging marketplace. People that I saw held in utmost esteem that you and I would never backtalk are treated like trash at other facilities because they can't leave. It sickens me. "

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