After seeing her grandson off on his first day of school, Harrison learned she was approaching the end of her 20-year tenure with the paper-products manufacturer.
The Warwick Farm mill, where she works as a machinery operator, will shut down next year, shedding 174 jobs.
Kimberly-Clark - which produces Huggies nappies, Kleenex tissues and toilet paper, and Kotex feminine hygiene products - on Wednesday announced that it would shift its paper and towelling production from the south-west Sydney mill to Millicent in South Australia.
"With the relocation of the majority of production to Millicent and the development of a consolidated distribution centre on a single new site, continued operation at Warwick Farm is no longer viable," Kimberly-Clark Australia managing director Wayne Jones said.
"Therefore, the Warwick Farm mill will cease operation by mid-2007."
The company would provide outplacement assistance and counselling for the 174 employees made redundant by the Warwick Farm closure, Jones said.
In addition, a custom-built distribution centre will be established in western Sydney at a site to be named.
It would merge existing smaller distribution operations at Warwick Farm, Minto and Villawood into one unit, but the effect on job numbers was still unknown, Jones said.
He said the decision to shut the Warwick Farm was a result of a review by Kimberly-Clark worldwide, and manufacturing sites in other countries were also being consolidated.
Harrison said many workers were shocked on hearing the news on Wednesday, but she said there was relief the company had agreed to pay all entitlements.
"We knew something would happen, but I think most people thought they'd probably just streamline or shut down a shift. I don't think they thought the whole mill would close," Harrison said.
"There (are) a lot of people who are distressed and in shock ... (but) there are also a lot of people with a lot of service (including) two people who have been there 35 years and another who has been there 32 years."
Harrison said she would be among those looking for another job because at 49 she was too young to retire.
"You always had job security but now it's gone and I'm still trying to come to terms with it myself," she said.
"But really for me, it was a good day and it was a bad day.
"It was a good day because it was my grandson's first day at school, but it was a bad day because of what happened here."
Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFU) organiser Mark Edwards welcomed the company's move to honour its redundancy commitments.
But he said he would meet with company representatives next Tuesday to try and negotiate an improved redundancy package for staff.
Source: AAP NewsWire