Today most workers will be leaving their jobs ready to enjoy the three-day holiday. For a handful of Delta Faucet employees, most of whom have dedicated at least 26 years to the company, it will be the last time they leave the factory.

Today marks the first round of lay offs in the anticipated five-month consolidation that will send about 200 jobs to the facility in Jackson, Tenn., and end assembly and brazing operations at Delta’s first plant. In all, 265 people will be out of a job. By the end of July, 80 employees will be thinned from the nearly 480 workforce, according to Paula Warner, corporate communications for Delta Faucet Company.

The plant will remain open for about 170 workers - 150 hourly and 20 salary - according to Warner as Greensburg continues finishing and machining operations.

While the doors will remain open, for many of the 265 who will be out of a job at some point before Christmas, they may as well close.

Earlier in the week, seven employees representing the people on the factory floor requested a meeting at the Daily News office to voice their concerns.

Their opinions were of a consensus. They all have people who depend on them. Some are couples; some had spouses who had been victims of other factory lay offs; some were sole providers. They all had homes, cars, medical bills. They all feared the worst - the uncertainty of what would come next. The only thing, they said, they knew was they would not be working at Delta Faucet in 2010 and left to find gainful employment at middle age in one of the worst economic climates in recent memory. On top of that, the compensation for the loss of livelihood offered them left them feeling even worse, they said.

“All we ask is they treat us leaving with some respect and dignity. There are some of us who have been there for 30 years, and they’re treating us like stray dogs,” employee #1 said. “I’m a person who thinks I gave Delta my life. I missed watching my kids grow up. I gave them blood and sweat for all these years and they’re not giving us anything.”

Due to the way the severance pay is structured, they all still feared retaliation if their names were used.

The severance compensation is one of their biggest concerns. Delta will provide the 265 ousted employees with eight weeks pay as severance as well as pay out any unused vacation, Warner said. To the employees who spoke with the Daily News, it is little more than a pat on the head for their years of service. For some who met an equation that combined age with years of employment, voluntary early retirement, which offered a lump $12,000 pay out, was offered on top of the severance package. About 85 employees took advantage, Warner said. For the rest, the employees said it was take the severance or leave it.

“If we play ball, then we get our eight-week severance. If you don’t like it, there’s the door,” employee #2 said. “All we want is fair compensation for the time we have given.”

The employees left at the facility have all been there for 26 years or more and they feel they have made the company what it is. As Delta expanded, they added facilities in Chickasha, Okla., which closed in 2006; Jackson, Tenn.; Canada and Panyu, China.

“Who made Jackson what it is? Who made Delta what it is? Who made Masco? The people of Greensburg, the heart and soul of Delta,” employee #2 said. “The only people losing here is us, the people who made you what you are. They gave us nothing but demands, and we met every one of them.”

Now, the local workers who arguably built the Delta Faucet Company, and in turn parent company Masco, feel they are bad parts being tossed out.

Employees were offered the chance to transfer to Jackson, Tenn., to fill one of the 200 new jobs. So far, 15 have shown interest, Warner said. However, the employees stated they feel the transfer avenue is a sham. They noted the top pay in Jackson is $13.50, much less than most of them make. Even an experienced assembly or brazing worker cannot transfer directly. They have to apply, interview and pay to travel to Tennessee to interview there. The hoops, they said, intensified the feeling they were no longer wanted.

It is a sense of doom they said they’ve felt since it was announced years ago the company would construct a similar but larger facility in Tennessee.