Ford: The Bubble Bursts in Edison

As news about the future of Ford Motor Co.'s Edison plant trickled out last week, workers gathered in knots at the union hall and Richie's bar across the street from the plant's back gate, seeking comfort from each other.

The news was mostly bad. A stream of stories coming out of the auto show in Detroit said the Edison plant was one of three assembly sites Ford planned to close as part of a restructuring aimed at pulling it back into profitability after a $1.5 billion loss in the first nine months of last year.

The auto workers tried to help each other cope with feelings of anger, hurt and betrayal as the reality seeped in that the bill for past blunders by Ford management - such as the Explorer/Firestone fiasco - and a U.S. economy shaken by recession and terrorist attacks could be arriving at their door.

For some, anxiety was leavened by hope that the plant, which had been on the endangered list before and survived, might still pull through somehow. But most sensed that a place that often seemed like a second home could soon be shutting down.