Company issues mass layoffs at Dubuque Works, hit hard in economic slump
March 7, 2009
Looking back, Dan Knockel said he would have worn a different hat.
And maybe a different shirt, too.
Regardless, there he was at the end of the day, dressed in his John Deere ball cap and T-shirt, drinking a beer, facing unemployment.
Knockel was among 220 John Deere Dubuque Works employees who learned Friday they will lose their jobs due to what Moline, Ill.-based Deere & Co. called "depressed market conditions."
The displaced, all hourly manufacturing workers, were told that the indefinite layoffs will be effective at the end of the month. The company also cut 105 positions at Davenport (Iowa) Works, where there were 200 jobs cut in February.
Friday's round of work force reductions follows a series of smaller job cuts over the past year that have collectively whittled Dubuque Works' hourly labor force to around 500. A year ago, there were close to 900 members in the local United Auto Workers bargaining unit, according to Dan White, president of UAW Local 94.
Knockel, of Durango, Iowa, sat at the Dubuque Driving Range bar,
not far from Dubuque Works, after his shift Friday, mulling over the situation with Dallas Tully, who also got a pink slip.
Tully was waiting for his wife to finish work so he could tell her the news. They have a 2-year-old son and are expecting another baby in August.
Tully and Knockel started working at the Dubuque plant on Dec. 1, 2003 -- not quite early enough to miss the July 2002 seniority cut off for the layoffs.
On Friday, they found themselves sometimes joking, sometimes venting frustrations and mostly wondering about where they will go next in an economy in the midst of a deep recession.
The layoffs were a big blow for Dubuque Works, part of a construction and forestry division struggling while Deere's green and gold agricultural division has been golden. Reeling from the effects of a deep recession marred by a building bust, Deere's construction and forestry division sales and profits have plummeted over the past several quarters.
"They are captives of the national and international economy. They can't build equipment if nobody is buying," said Mike Blouin, president of Greater Dubuque Development Corp.
He said he was not surprised by Friday's announcement.
"They held off as long as they could," said Blouin of the layoffs, adding Dubuque Works woes underscore how important the efforts of local leaders to grow area business have been in cushioning the region's overall struggles with recession.
Tully said he expected additional cuts were coming because of lagging orders but wasn't prepared for more than 200 workers to lose their jobs.
The employees were taken to a meeting at about 12:30 p.m. and were told immediately about the layoffs.
"There was some shock, frustration," White said. "You could just see the frustration on their faces."
Deere & Co. spokesman Ken Golden said the division's sales have deteriorated more than expected.
"We are working to basically size the manufacturing work force to the market conditions," he said.
Dubuque Works General Manager John May was in meetings Friday afternoon and did not return a call for comment.
At Dubuque Driving Range Friday, cars lined the parking lot and people packed the bar and aired a few frustrations in the wake of the pending layoffs.
Some talked about how it seemed inconsistent that a company still making money in such a dire environment should need to lay off so many workers.
"Why should (Deere & Co. CEO) Bob Lane make 11 freaking million dollars and you can't give me $40,000 to keep me working?" Knockel asked, to no one in particular. In response, a few people around him clinked their beer bottles together and voiced their approval.
In its most recent quarter, Deere's overall income fell 45 percent, down from $369.1 million to $203.9 million.
There was speculation that the company was forced to lay off so many because there weren't as many retirements as planned, which White said wasn't the case.
"It's the orders coming in," he said. "As you see the numbers just going down, you knew something was going to happen."
Neither Knockel nor Tully sounded overly confident about what they'll find in the job market.
"It seems pretty bleak," Knockel said.
"School looks good at this point," he said, about the possibility of getting additional training given the lack of openings for some laborers.
"If you can turn a nut or bolt, it'll go to China," Knockel said on job outsourcing, which again drew vocal affirmations from around the bar.
Both he and Tully put their names on lists of jobs at other Deere plants, but said there were no openings as of Friday.
Knockel said he's been down this road before, when he was laid off from FDL Foods many years ago.
"That was a depression. Other people said it wasn't a depression, but when it affects me it's a depression," he said, smiling.
But even with experience, there's no easy way to lose a job.
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