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Eagle to drop disabled contractors

Eagle chain's new owner doesn't contract out work;

17 workers facing layoffs

Jan. 28, 2000

By Gestin Suttle
The News Tribune

For more than six years, Darwin Wells has polished chrome, taken out the garbage and dusted display counters at the Eagle Hardware & Garden store in Puyallup.

But Wells, 44, will soon lose his job, although he doesn't realize it yet.

Wells is among 11 people with developmental disabilities who work at Eagle stores in Puyallup

and Tacoma as contractors with Vadis Northwest of Sumner.

Six other workers with disabilities hold jobs at the Federal Way Eagle store through 

Northwest Center of Seattle. 

Both Vadis and Northwest Center help people with physical or mental disabilities get 

and keep jobs.

By the end of April, Wells and his associates will be out of work because Eagle's new owner,

Lowe's Cos. of  North Wilkesboro, N.C., has a policy against employing contractors in its stores,

said Brian Peace, a spokesman for Lowe's.

"We think we're able to provide better customer service by utilizing our own employees in our

stores," he said.

Eagle does not have any other contractors facing similar layoffs, said a company official.

The situation has nothing to do with the quality of work by Wells or any of his colleagues,

said Suzanne McCoy, a Lowe's spokeswoman. 

"When speaking with the (Puyallup) store manager, he has been highly pleased with the work 

that the individuals have done," McCoy said. "He says they've been a pleasure to work with."

But, McCoy added, the no-contractor policy is one that all Eagle stores will have to adopt as

part of their conversion to Lowe's.

"It's not anything personal," McCoy said, "but we do not work with any outside contractors."

She added that Lowe's officials "definitely wish them (the contractors) the best."

As Lowe's brings Eagle's policies in line with its own, the impending contractor layoffs bring to

light some of the growing pains communities can experience in the wake of mergers and

buyouts, said Rick Cobb,  vice president and national director of Challenger, Gray & Christmas,

a Chicago-based business consulting firm.

"The expectation is that a company buying another company sees an ability to become more

profitable by the acquisition," Cobb explained. 

Lowe's bought Eagle Hardware & Garden Inc. early last year in a $1 billion stock-swap 

purchase.

It's not uncommon for workers to face layoffs following a buyout as duplicate jobs are 

combined or streamlined, Cobb said.

It's just that in this case, the changes are affecting some of the most unsuspecting workers,

said Becky Raplee, operations manager of Vadis. It depends on their level of understanding,

but some of the workers might feel they are being let go because they did something wrong,

she said.

"We have to be real clear with them that it's not their fault; they did do good work," she said.

Lowe's does employ people with disabilities and is a major supporter of the Special Olympics.

Last year, the company contributed $1 million to the event and sponsored the weightlifting

venue, which was staffed entirely by Lowe's employees who were paid their salaries while

away from their jobs, McCoy said.

Glinda Victorine, the Puyallup on-site manager of the Vadis crew, said she has not told

most of  the workers yet that their jobs will end - because the change is still a ways off and she 

does not want to cause them any undue stress.

Darwin Wells' mother, Romona Wells, hasn't quite accepted the situation.

"I have not even let myself think about (my son's) reaction when he finds out that the job

is coming to an end," she said.  "I guess because I still have hope that maybe Lowe's will

change their mind."

Darwin Wells so enjoys working at the store that only last summer  did he agree to take

a two-week vacation, Romona Wells said. He goes to work even when he is sick, she said.

On the day he was ill,  "I just had to tell him, 'You are not going.' He was going to go to work

no matter how bad he felt," she said.

The layoffs will come slowly. Lowe's is allowing the work to be phased out, said Victorine.

The crew's hours were cut about three weeks ago.

McCoy said any of the workers can apply for jobs at Eagle. If they qualify for a position,

they would be hired and become employees of Lowe's, which has been routinely ranked by

Fortune magazine as one of the top 100 places to work in the country, she said.

But because many of the workers need intensive training, it seems unlikely that they could

get hired by Lowe's, Raplee said. While some of the workers can become quite independent,

they often need ongoing training and assistance offered by the on-site supervisor that Vadis

supplies, she said.

And while the Vadis workers can apply for an Eagle job, their present positions will no longer

exist after they are gone, McCoy said. Instead, they will be absorbed by the stores' existing

staff, she said.

Several of the Puyallup store workers who were asked about their jobs recently said they were

happy in their positions. As Wells sprayed disinfectant on a bathroom sink and slowly and

carefully wiped the spigot clean, he was asked if he'd like a new job someplace else.  He 

looked up from his chore and answered, "No. I want to stay here."

Larry Rinard smiled broadly when asked about his position.

"I learn something every day," he said, as he gingerly picked up a glass light fixture and

dusted it.

"A lot of people are my friends here," he added.

The work done at Eagle has been good for the employees with disabilities because many of

the jobs involve repetition and are easier for the crews to master, said Dave Wunderlin, CEO

of Northwest Center in Seattle. 

"It's something they enjoy doing and makes them feel really good, because they go in and

do the best job that they can do every day," he said.

It's also good for the employer, he said, because the workers often carry out duties that

many of the other employees don't want to do. Without the Vadis or Northwest Center crews,

employers often face high turnover from employees who don't care for the work, he said.

Victorine said no other workers have embraced the Vadis employees as much as those at 

Eagle.

Typically at organizations where the crews work, she said, the other employees maintain their

distance from the Vadis crews. But at Eagle, the clerks and other Eagle employees eat lunch

and socialize with the Vadis contractors.

"I'll just start crying if I talk about them leaving," said Roxanne Ewing, an Eagle sales clerk.

Some of the employees have taken the Vadis workers to Mariners games and restaurants 

on their own time. Victor Puleo, another Eagle employee, buys the workers pizza for their 

birthdays.

"What they do is important," he said. “They never complain. They just keep working."

The contractors have earned up to $500 a month, Victorine said. They are paid by Vadis or

Northwest Center, which contract with Eagle for the work. Their pay is based on their

productivity, Victorine said. The crew's on-site supervisor, who is always present with the

workers, is paid by Vadis or Northwest Center, Raplee said.

Many workers receive Supplemental Security Income, Raplee said. The Vadis workers live

with relatives, in group homes or in apartments where they are routinely looked in on,

she added.

Vadis and Northwest Center officials are now busy looking for other work situations for their

employees.

If nothing new is found for the Vadis crews, the workers will be offered positions at one of the

other half-dozen work sites where other Vadis contractors work, Raplee said. The might also

find positions at Vadis' own operation, where workers do a number of jobs, such as cleaning

telephones.

Wunderlin, of Northwest Center, said he harbors no ill will toward Lowe's and appreciates the 

opportunities and relationships the workers have had.

"It's been a rock-steady situation for eight years (in Federal Way). If that's what they 

need to

do, that's fine ... It's been a great association," he said.

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