MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After more than 55 years of operation in Morgantown the oral solid dose facility, formerly operated by Mylan Pharmaceuticals now Viatris, has closed.
The closure eliminates an estimated 1,400 workers, 850 are members of the United Steelworkers Union.
Many employees like Joe Gouzd, president of the United Steelworkers Union Local 8-957 reflected Friday on what the company culture was prior to the 2009 exit of founder Mike Puskar.
“Mr. Puskar walked the halls, he talked to our people, he talked to me,” Gouzd said Friday on MetroNews “Talkline.” “He asked if there were things that needed to be done- caring, sharing, giving.”
Joe Gouzd, President of the USW Local 8-957, speaks with @DaveWilsonMN about the Mylan plant closing. WATCH: https://t.co/yCFQ3nDJuy pic.twitter.com/0jPPubQBMr
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) July 30, 2021
Mylan completed a merger last November with Pfizer Inc.’s Upjohn unit to form Viatris. Former Mylan chief executive Heather Bresch, daughter of U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, retired at the closing. Upjohn group’s president, Michael Goettler, assumed the chief executive’s post at Viatris.
At the time, the new company said it was targeting about $1 billion in cost cuts, but hadn’t provided details right away. The combined company has about 45,000 employees.
In addition to providing hundreds of jobs over the life span of the company, the names Puskar, Milan and Mylan are affixed to many landmarks throughout the Morgantown area.
“Mr. Puskar was able to give back folds and folds over and above what the people of West Virginia expected,” Gouzd said. “He found a way in his heart, through his success and determination to help people.”
According to Gouzd, there are too many people that have worked at the plant and family members who have benefited from those jobs that the name will live on.
“Mylan Pharmaceuticals will never dissolve,” Gouzd said. “Mr. Puskar’s legacy will never be erased- we stand proud, we’re Mylan Pharmaceuticals.”
Puskar’s daughter Johanna has watched Mylan Pharmaceuticals grow to one of the largest companies in the area. She has also watched as her went from running the facility to ultimately not being allowed to enter the building after a leadership change in 2009.
“He always treated people like human beings and he respected his employees, and he appreciated his employees,” Puskar said. For it to go from that to where it is now just devastates me.”
According to U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, work is still going on at the federal level to save the facility. Capito said the last several months have been evaluated by officials in order to avoid repeating some of the problems experienced early in the pandemic.
“Some sort of repurposing could be the best route, then that would make it critical to the nation because we are working now to make sure we have all the strategic reserves if there were another pandemic and not relying on China,” Capito said.
Viatris issued a WARN notice in late May. The company said it’s anticipated 1,431 workers would lose their jobs as a result of the closing. There would be 482 non-union workers and 764 union workers lose their jobs on July 31. Additional job separations will take place on Aug. 31, Oct. 31, Dec. 31 and March 31, 2022.
The WARN notice lists the job titles affected.
The plant has more than 200 categories of non-union workers with most categories made up of one worker. The non-union categories with the most workers who will lose their jobs include Chemist II (58 jobs) and Area Lead/Cleaning Supervisors (31 jobs).
There are 57 categories of union workers at plant who will lose their jobs including 65 in the category of Utility Worker D, 61 Department Coordinators, 40 Blended Operators and 36 Fluid Bed Operators.