OXNARD : Workers Play Santa Despite Layoffs

With the planned closure of Abex Aerospace in Oxnard, it may be a grim Christmas for workers losing their jobs.

Despite the layoffs, Abex employees continued their tradition of supplying Christmas gifts for more than 100 disabled infants and toddlers in a program sponsored by the Easter Seal Society of Ventura County.

Linda Lang, chairwoman of the project for Abex, said the mood at the plant is depressed. However, she said, there was never any talk among employees about not playing Santa for the children, a project they have taken on for the last four years. “We just hope some other company will do this next year,” she said.

In October, Abex announced plans to close the plant in mid-1993, putting 550 employees out of work or forcing them to take jobs elsewhere with the aerospace firm.

Layoffs began in October, with more scheduled right after the holidays, according to Lang, who will lose her job in June.

“It was a shock,” she said. “We had no idea. In this job market, there are not that many jobs. People have homes and families.”

Those concerns did not stop her from taking on the Easter Seal project, a job that required employees to shop for gifts for children. The agency provided information about each child, such as age and disability.

“For the blind children, we tried to get a musical toy, like a piano,” she said. Some children will get dolls, but there were no two dolls alike. Employees who couldn’t go shopping gave Lang cash and asked her to pick out the toys.

The children are all under 3 years old and some come from needy families. “This is their only Christmas,” Lang said.

The toys have been delivered to the Ventura-based Easter Seal Society, where employees are wrapping them and applying a personal name tag. Santa will deliver them at a Christmas party Friday.

The agency is having a dinner for about 35 Abex employees Tuesday to thank them for the toys.

“We were really touched,” said Stephanie Levine, director of the program.