Elkhart truck brakes facility to lay off 200 to 300
Jobs at Elkhart plant could be cut in early 2007.
ED RONCO
Tribune Staff Writer
ELKHART -- Between 200 and 300 people will lose their jobs in early 2007 when Gunite Corp. lays them off from a plant here.
Gunite makes brake systems for heavy trucks at a plant on the corner of County Road 15 and Middlebury Street in Elkhart.
The company doesn't know exactly how many workers will be affected, said Eva Schmitz, a spokeswoman for Gunite's parent company, Evansville, Ind.-based Accuride Corp.
Accuride is not connected to the company of the same name that shuttered a South Bend plant in 2002.
A smaller complement of workers will remain at the plant, known as Plant 1, while other work done there will be subcontracted to Cherry Valley Tool and Machine of Rockford, Ill., Schmitz said.
The plant in Elkhart employs 510 people, 430 of whom are hourly employees represented by Teamsters Local 364.
The layoff announcement, made in shifts Sunday and Monday, was a total surprise to workers, said Jim Szucs, business agent for Local 364.
"This news hit us like a ton of bricks on Sunday night and Monday," Szucs said.
The company and the union are expected to meet next week to discuss an incentive program for workers who stick around until they are laid off.
But other than that, "it's a little bit too early to know where we're going to go," Szucs said.
Employees who remain will receive an incentive package that has yet to be worked out. The retention pay, as it's called, will likely be built around factors such as productivity, minimization of scrap material, plant safety and attendance, Szucs said.
Since companies are required to give 60 days' notice of closures or layoffs to workers, many put forward incentive plans to keep employees productive as the layoff date gets closer.
The automotive supply industry has grown increasingly competitive, especially from sources abroad.
It's unclear whether foreign competition was a factor here, but employees in the plant were acutely aware of industrywide issues, Szucs said.
Not like that makes this any easier.
"(It's a) very somber mood," he said. "It still hits very hard when news like this is given to a work group."
Staff writer Ed Ronco:
eronco@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6467
ED RONCO
Tribune Staff Writer
ELKHART -- Between 200 and 300 people will lose their jobs in early 2007 when Gunite Corp. lays them off from a plant here.
Gunite makes brake systems for heavy trucks at a plant on the corner of County Road 15 and Middlebury Street in Elkhart.
The company doesn't know exactly how many workers will be affected, said Eva Schmitz, a spokeswoman for Gunite's parent company, Evansville, Ind.-based Accuride Corp.
Accuride is not connected to the company of the same name that shuttered a South Bend plant in 2002.
A smaller complement of workers will remain at the plant, known as Plant 1, while other work done there will be subcontracted to Cherry Valley Tool and Machine of Rockford, Ill., Schmitz said.
The plant in Elkhart employs 510 people, 430 of whom are hourly employees represented by Teamsters Local 364.
The layoff announcement, made in shifts Sunday and Monday, was a total surprise to workers, said Jim Szucs, business agent for Local 364.
"This news hit us like a ton of bricks on Sunday night and Monday," Szucs said.
The company and the union are expected to meet next week to discuss an incentive program for workers who stick around until they are laid off.
But other than that, "it's a little bit too early to know where we're going to go," Szucs said.
Employees who remain will receive an incentive package that has yet to be worked out. The retention pay, as it's called, will likely be built around factors such as productivity, minimization of scrap material, plant safety and attendance, Szucs said.
Since companies are required to give 60 days' notice of closures or layoffs to workers, many put forward incentive plans to keep employees productive as the layoff date gets closer.
The automotive supply industry has grown increasingly competitive, especially from sources abroad.
It's unclear whether foreign competition was a factor here, but employees in the plant were acutely aware of industrywide issues, Szucs said.
Not like that makes this any easier.
"(It's a) very somber mood," he said. "It still hits very hard when news like this is given to a work group."
Staff writer Ed Ronco:
eronco@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6467
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