With Gastonia cuts in place, workers at Freightliner's Mount Holly plant await word
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February 1, 2007
The possibility of almost 800 layoffs at two Freightliner plants in Gaston County -- more than a quarter of the workforce -- is neither surprising nor devastating to employee morale, union leaders at the plants said.
Recently hired workers learned last year that they could be laid off in 2007, and employees hope the layoffs won't last longer than this year, said officers for the United Auto Workers locals that represent employees at each plant.
Freightliner late last week announced 260 layoffs at its Gastonia parts plant. Those will be effective March 30 and are related to new diesel exhaust emissions standards, which has caused a drop in demand for trucks.
This week, officials with the N.C. Department of Commerce said the Mount Holly plant could cut 520 jobs. That figure is close to what the company projected in talks with union leaders, said Bob Riggins, president of United Auto Workers Local 5285.
Freightliner, however, hadn't confirmed layoffs at the Mount Holly plant as of Wednesday morning. The plant makes a medium-duty truck -- a market not as affected by the new emissions standards, Riggins said.
Even so, Riggins said he expects some layoffs between now and the middle of summer. Among the roughly 1,600 workers at the plant, he said, the layoffs likely would affect those with the least seniority.
Workers hired over the past year -- the last group, about two dozen, started in late October -- were told they could be laid off this year, Riggins said.
"This shouldn't be a shock to them," he said.
In addition, any employees who are laid off will continue to have health-care benefits for six months, Riggins said, and some could work shifts this summer while other employees are on vacation. If truck sales pick up later this year as expected, he added, employees could be called back by year's end.
"Overall," Riggins said, "I would say morale is good."
The atmosphere isn't totally gloomy at the Gastonia plant, either, said Greg Suggs, the shop chair for UAW Local 5286.
"We saw it coming," Suggs said of the layoffs. "The company gave us a good heads up. They have been more forthcoming than in layoffs past."
About 1,125 workers are represented by the Gastonia local, Suggs said. Along with keeping their benefits for six months, he said, laid-off employees will be eligible for unemployment.
The length of the layoffs in Gastonia will depend on when demand for truck engines picks up, he said. A short layoff would be six to eight months, while a long one would be a few years, said Suggs, a nine-year Freightliner employee who was laid off for seven months in 2001-02.
"The projections are pretty good for us coming back to work by the end of the year," he said.
As in Mount Holly, the Gastonia plant workers with the least seniority likely will be the first to go, Suggs said. That isn't necessarily young employees, he added, as newer workers range in age from their 20s to their 50s.
While most people don't like losing a job, morale in the Gastonia plant isn't all bad, Suggs said. Layoffs there could be short, he said, and the number is lower than projected cuts in Mount Holly and the 1,180 jobs cut at Freightliner's plant in Cleveland.
"To be honest with you," he said, "it could be a lot worse."
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