Still Feeding Strays : Firm Yields--’Cat Lady of Lockheed’ Is Rehired

Fired two weeks ago after refusing to stop feeding stray cats at the aerospace plant where she has worked for 45 years, the “Cat Lady of Lockheed” will go back to work today, her lunch bag in one hand, and a carton of cat food in the other. Marie Newberry was reinstated to her job bending sheet metal Monday after an agreement was reached between Lockheed management and officials from the International Assn. of Machinists, who were contesting the firing.

Under the agreement, the 69-year-old woman will get back her supervisory post at the Burbank plant, will receive back pay, and will not be forbidden from feeding the dozens of wild felines, which she calls “my babies.”

“It’s beautiful,” Newberry said of her rehiring. “I’m thankful for all the support the cats and I have received. It’s tremendous to know there are so many cat lovers out there. It makes my heart glad.”

The machinists union credits a public outpouring of sympathy, after the woman’s plight was reported in The Times last week, as being instrumental in her rehiring, spokesman Neil Vandercook said.

“We went over there Friday with our guns loaded thinking we would have to do battle, and go through a lengthy arbitration. But the company said, ‘We are going to put her back to work, no strings attached.’ ”

Vandercook said that “the public relations impact hit Lockheed from the highest echelons of the company on down. They were aghast.”

“We are delighted that there is a very happy ending, because she is so well thought of,” he added.

Lockheed spokesman Jim Ragsdale said, “In view of the longtime service of Marie Newberry, the management reconsidered its decision and decided to offer her reinstatement.”

He acknowledged that the aerospace firm had received “some calls Friday and Monday from people who wanted to express their opinion.” But he declined to say how many or if they had any effect on the outcome.

Asked if the company was happy about rehiring Newberry, Lockheed spokesman Bill Spaniel said, “This was a very difficult situation. We also have a responsibility to other employees who complained about cat dung and the health hazard. We are trying to deal with the cats humanely, and people too.”

There was never any question as to Newberry’s job performance, which both the union and management agreed was exemplary.

Instead, the company maintained that Newberry was being insubordinate by continuing to feed the cats after being told to stop.

Vandercook noted that when Lockheed gave Newberry an ultimatum, the union suggested that she back off from her stance.

“She told us, ‘You wouldn’t refuse to feed your children would you?’ Well, we agreed she was right,” Vandercook said.

The animals have always roamed the plant, and until recently were welcome, because they kept the rodent population down.

But the feline population got out of hand, numbering more than 100. And when an employee was scratched by a cat that slipped into one of the offices, management decided something had to be done. They hired a pest control company to trap the animals and ordered Newberry to quit feeding those that remained.

Newberry, who lives alone, has for the last 14 years gotten up at 2 a.m., so that she could make her rounds at the plant to feed the animals before starting her own job at 7 a.m. She said she spends $35 a day feeding stray cats and birds, not only at Lockheed, but also at several other locations where the animals are in danger of starving.

Over the years she has had encounters with angry neighbors and employees who have opposed her feeding project. She received an anonymous letter from a Lockheed employee who threatened to pour antifreeze on the cat food. She moved from her Burbank home years ago after city officials, who received complaints, told her she could have only four cats.

Newberry bought a car and learned how to drive so she could go back to the old neighborhood to feed the cats. One irate resident bashed in her car windshield when she refused to stop feeding them, she said. In an interview last week, Newberry said she spends almost all of her free time on her cat project, not to mention her paycheck, but had never really owned any of the cats that she has aided over the years.

“They just sort of moved in on me,” she said.

Asked why she likes cats, she added, “Well, they don’t say ‘thank you.’ But then, neither do they go around bashing in your car or killing other things for fun.”

Actors and Others for Animals in North Hollywood has taken up Newberry’s cause, coordinating the numerous donations of cat food and money being received from as far away as New Jersey. Those sending donations must earmark them for Newberry’s feeding project, spokeswoman Mary Flint said.

The group has also contacted Lockheed officials and offered to help trap the animals. Members have in the past worked with movie and television studios to rid their lots of strays.

Lockheed officials emphasized Monday that if further trapping is necessary, “We will work with the animal rights groups to humanely trap the cats.”