Employees of Precision Technology Inc., a bulk mail distribution center on Sheep Davis Road, arrived for work the morning of Friday, Aug. 28, to discover the doors were locked and they were out of a job.

“The building was locked up and the workers were not given any notice, just a sign on the door,” state Labor Commissioner George Copadis said.

The sign instructed anyone with questions to call Greystone and Company, a New York City-based business banking firm. The firm did not return a reporter’s phone call.

Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Bruce Mohl issued a temporary restraining order on Aug. 31 against the company, preventing the transfer of assets of Precision Technology until a formal hearing is held. A hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m.

The company did not provide the 60 days notice, or severance pay, to employees as required by the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.

Precision Technology employed 131 people, Copadis said.

“I know this will be extremely difficult for the workers and their families,” Gov. John Lynch said in a written statement. “New Hampshire state government is committed to helping them through this difficult time.”

Several workers who gathered outside Precision said the first to be informed of the company’s closing were second- shift employees, at about 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. The workers were told to pack up and leave before their shifts ended.

“I came here this morning at 5 o’clock to go to work and the doors were locked,” said Ellie Smith of Allenstown, whose 46th birthday was the previous day. “It’s like, ‘Happy birthday. Now go home and support your two kids.’”

Smith said she was one of several employees temporarily laid off for nine weeks and just returned to work two weeks ago.

John Busa, Executive Vice President of Precision, was outside the facility with displaced workers Aug. 28 but would not comment. As of press time, the company has not stated publicly why it abruptly shut down, but numerous employees said the building was foreclosed. A check with bankruptcy court records shows Precision did not file bankruptcy as of Aug. 31.

Copadis said it’s illegal for a company to close its doors without giving 60 days notice if it employs over 100 people under the federal Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. However, following the law is another issue.

“There’s no enforcement power by the U.S. Department of Labor,” he said. “They’ll indicate there was a violation, but then the workers have to band together and take the company to court.”

Anita Baker, 54, her husband, Mike Baker, 50, and his brother, George Baker, 53, took Precision’s closing particularly hard. They live together in the same Webster mobile home and Anita and George work at the facility full time.

“That’s two-thirds of our income,” said George, who said he worked at Precision for 38 years. “It’s gonna hurt big this time.” Through tears, Anita, a 21-year employee, said, “We’re going to lose everything we had because of this.”

Ken Blodgett, 46, of Epsom, said he’ll work any job necessary to support himself and his daughter who just graduated high school.

“I’ll do whatever it takes, whether it’s making sandwiches at Subway or washing dishes,” Blodgett said.

The day of the closure was a scheduled pay day. Copadis said a major concern was how to distribute paychecks that were locked in an office.

“The bank secured the building. Myself and the human resources person were finally permitted access after a couple of hours of speaking back and forth with the security force and the bank,” he said.

Workers from Rapid Response Team of the New Hampshire Department of Labor met with dozens of employees outside the facility to assist with wage claims. The Rapid Response team held three sessions at the Concord Employment Security Office for Precision workers to help file claims for unemployment, health care, food stamps and other available services. If you are an employee who still needs to file claims, you may on the Labor Commission’s Web site, labor.state.nh.us or call 271-3699 for assistance.