Aerospace companies discussed skill sets and starting salaries.
Former General Motors employees interested in jobs with aerospace companies parked in grassy fields and lined up outside their union hall to speak with employers Friday afternoon.
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Organizers said 650 to 700 people attended the job fair at the UAW Local 1999 union hall. The event aimed to highlight employment opportunities in the growing aerospace industry for displaced GM workers.
"They've got manual dexterity and that's critical in our industry," said Anita Brown , human resources manager with AAR, an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul company.
Industry leaders are hoping a little retraining will allow GM workers, who once worked on automotive assembly lines, to meet the aerospace industry's need for skilled employees. As the aerospace industry rebounds from the post-9/11 downturn, companies are expanding and adding jobs.
Six aerospace companies and Tinker Air Force Base had booths and discussed jobs with a steady stream of workers, including some who came to the job fair from GM's Jobs Bank still wearing their factory ID cards. Many of the companies were looking for aircraft mechanics, sheet-metal workers or skilled machinists.
Workers filled out basic applications that included their skill level, what kinds of jobs they were looking for and how much pay they would accept.
"I'm just looking at the different companies and seeing what's out there," said David Sherrill, who spent 27 years working for GM before taking an early retirement package. "I'm still trying to decide if I want to get back into the work force and work for a company or start something on my own."
Shortly after the plant closed, Sherrill enrolled in a carpentry training program at Moore-Norman Technology Center.
"I think I might try to make a living at that, doing remodeling maybe," said Sherrill, who attended the job fair -- his first -- at his wife's urging. "The starting salaries are low. I realize part of that is because I'm in Oklahoma City. Maybe if I was looking in Dallas or a larger city they might be higher."
The average hourly pay for workers at GM in Oklahoma City was about $25.
Most aerospace jobs start at about half that wage and progress to about $20 an hour. At AAR, an employee might have to work 18 months and complete training programs to earn between $18 and $21 an hour, Brown said.
"The economy is good," said Sandy Payne, work force program manager with the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission. "It's not so good when you're used to making $20 or $30 an hour."
About 2,200 people were out of a job when GM idled its Oklahoma City facility in February. Most of those workers, about 1,570, have taken an early retirement package, transfers or buyouts. Others who don't qualify for full early retirement will receive salary and benefits until the union contract ends in September 2007.
Workers from Johnson Controls Inc., a GM supplier, still are fighting for union benefits they said the company owes them from their labor contract.
"I'm here for a job," said Billy McFarland, a former Johnson Controls worker. "I'm getting information on schooling and what it takes to get into the aerospace industry. The pay's right."
Wes Henning has been on both sides. As an employee for McDonnell Douglas, he was laid off after working 35 years with the company.
Now he's recruiting laid-off employees for jobs with NORDAM, a privately owned aerospace company in Tulsa.
"I was 19 when I started working there," Henning said of his time with McDonnell Douglas. "I'd never had to fill out a resume or go look for a job. You can go back to school, but you just think, 'What do I want to do?' It can be a really confusing time for people."
Henning, supervisor of the military production machine and welding shop, spent part of the afternoon trying to match worker skills with openings at NORDAM.
"I have guys come over here and say they can't do anything that I'm interested in," he said. "But they have marketable skills. They just have to look around. One guy said he drove a forklift. Well, we have forklifts. People just need to look at what openings are out there."
