Union says ‘pure corporate greed’ forcing some metro-east jobs to Mexico
The union representing workers at a Freeburg factory being shut down described the decision to move some jobs to Mexico as “pure corporate greed.”
Hubbell Inc., a multinational company that had annual revenue of $5.6 billion in 2024, has announced it will close its Wiegmann manufacturing plant and layoff 110 employees as the Freeburg operations will be transferred to existing Hubbell facilities in Aurora, Illinois, and Juarez, Mexico.
The layoffs include 98 members of the International Association of Sheet Metal Air Rail Transportation Workers, or SMART, Union, according to a letter Hubbell Inc. sent to state officials on April 24.
Richard Harris, a regional official with the union, said in a statement Friday that Hubbell notified the union last summer that the company was considering moving operations to Juarez.
Harris said the change is being made “due to pure corporate greed.”
“Company officials openly stated that workers in Juarez could be hired for just $21 a day,” said Harris, who is an organizer and fund administrator for the Central States Regional Production Council of the union.
“They had the audacity to boast to shareholders that this move would generate an additional $40 million in profits over the next ten years,” according to his statement. “Those profits come at the direct expense of American jobs, families and a community that has supported this plant for generations.”
Harris said the average pay scale for Hubbell union employees is $23 per hour.
A representative from Hubbell could not be reached for comment about Harris’ statement Friday.
Debbie Tucker, vice president for talent, inclusion and communications for Shelton, Connecticut-based Hubbell, on Wednesday released a statement that included information that was in the letter sent to the state. It also stated, “Our focus currently is ensuring our employees get the support they need and delivering for our customers during this transition.”
Harris said the union negotiated to keep the Freeburg plant open.
The union “did everything in its power to convince Hubbell to stay: presenting alternatives, negotiating in good faith, and appealing to the company’s responsibility to its workers and the Freeburg community. But in the end, profit won over people,” his statement said. “This is more than a plant closure — it’s a calculated betrayal of working families by a corporation that has lost its moral compass. Today, the town of Freeburg mourns not just the loss of jobs, but the loss of dignity, stability, and nearly a century of American craftsmanship.
“The hollowing out of our manufacturing base must stop. Our workers — and their families — deserve better.”
Freeburg Village Administrator Matt Trout said in an interview with the Belleville News-Democrat on Wednesday that the plant’s closure will have a “big impact” on the town.
“There’s a lot of people that work there that have been longtime Freeburg residents so anytime that many people of your community are going to lose their jobs … that’s a big impact.”
According to Hubbell’s website, E.M. Wiegmann Co. was established in Freeburg in 1928, subsequently moved to other metro-east sites and then returned to Freeburg after the company’s founder, Edgar Maurice Wiegmann, died in 1958.
The Wiegmann family had opened the plant at 501 W. Apple St. in 1964 to consolidate all of the Wiegmann factories into one location, according to Hubbell, which bought the former E.M. Wiegmann Co. plant 1994.
Union to assist employees laid off at Freeburg plant
Hubbell told the state that the layoffs would begin Sept. 1 and conclude by early to mid-2026.
Hubbell was required to inform state officials about the plant closure because of regulations in the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, Act.
In a brief interview, Harris said the workers at the Freeburg plant make electrical panels that include switches for controlling electricity going to sections of a building.
Harris said in his statement that the union will work with state and local officials “to ensure affected workers receive the support they deserve.”
The Illinois Department of Employment Security can provide training and resume assistance for “dislocated” workers, Harris said.
Since work is being outsourced to Juarez, which is in northern Mexico near El Paso, Texas, the Freeburg workers may get help from a federal program that “can provide extended unemployment benefits, education and relocation allowances for eligible workers.”
Also, Harris said the union is “actively looking for opportunities within the union network, both locally and in neighboring regions, to help members transition to new positions.”
Harris said Hubbell “has not guaranteed relocation or transfer opportunities” but it would assist employees in applying for open positions at the Hubbell warehouse in Aurora, which is near Chicago, and other Hubbell locations if they meet qualifications.
“However, it’s important to note that no automatic transfers or relocation benefits have been promised at this time,” Harris said.
The union employees at the plant as of April 24 included 20 welders, 19 machine operators, 18 assemblers, 13 warehouse workers and 10 painters, according to information Hubbell sent the state.
The non-union employees include a plant manager, a human resources manager and three production supervisors.
This story was originally published May 2, 2025 at 3:56 PM.
