Master Lock Factory in Milwaukee Closes After 100 Years

Milwaukee’s Master Lock factory is closing after over 100 years of operation, leaving 400 union workers without jobs.

In 2012, former president Barack Obama made a visit to the iconic Master Lock factory in Milwaukee, Wis., praising the company for upholding the American Dream.

In March 2024, after more than 100 years of operation, Master Lock will be shutting the factory down. The closure will result in 400 lost union jobs, and also mark the end of a former industrial region of the city that once housed some 50 plants.

In collaboration with The Real News and In These Times, Workday Magazine’s senior associate editor Isabela Escalona talked with two workers, Sara Morris and Susan Thomas-Hall, about how the plant’s closure is affecting them and their community.

The story and transcript are available here.

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