MADISON, WI (WKOW/CNN) - Thursday was the end of an era for the iconic Madison Oscar Mayer plant.
"Guess that's corporate America these days, buy them up, and shut them down," employee Jon Ritter said.
After 28 years, it's Ritter's final time, and he's not the only one.
"I'm 68, I've been here 46 years, and would be starting the 47th in October," Union Chief Steward Linda Buckley said.
Oscar Mayer's union chief steward knows all about the loss.
"We had over 3,000 factory workers 80's good, 90's good, 2000's on it started to slow down a bit and now we're done," Buckley said.
Despite Thursday being the final day at Oscar Mayer, the plant thanked employees with a pizza party and ended the day with exit interviews.
Chertong Thao knew that not everyone was taking home benefits, or had another job lined up.
"This is my retirement package, so I'm one of the lucky ones who got this package," Thao said.
Oscar Mayer isn't something Madison will forget.
Union reps say a skeleton crew of about 15 workers will remain on site to take care of custodial and maintenance issues at the plant for the next month.
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