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January 22, 2009
WEBSTER CITY - More Electrolux employees are facing the loss of their jobs, but this time the workers who make washers and dryers won't be affected.
Instead, the new round of 85 layoffs will hit people who make and distribute Electrolux Central Vacuum Systems.
The jobs will be lost as central vacuum work is centralized in Mexico and Texas, according to an announcement from company spokesman Tony Evans.
He said the production work will be done in Juarez, Mexico, while the distribution function will go to El Paso, Texas.
The shift away from Webster City will begin during the second quarter of this year and continue through the year, Evans said.
About 40 workers in sales and administration will remain in Webster City, according to Evans.
The plant that makes washers and dryers isn't impacted. However, 99 employees were laid off there in November in response to a weak market for appliances.
Officials of United Auto Workers Local 442, which represents Electrolux workers, couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.
Because the production jobs are being moved to Mexico, the workers who will be laid off will probably be eligible for federal assistance through a program called Trade Adjustment Assistance, according to state Rep. McKinley Bailey, D-Webster City.
Bailey said Tuesday night that he's asked U.S. Sens. Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin for help in getting those workers declared eligible for that program. He said the federal program will provide extended unemployment benefits and training for new jobs.
''It's really going to give people who want to retool their skills for the 21st century work force the chance to do that,'' he said.
Bailey recalled that about two years ago, a team of designers was moved from the vacuum plant to a facility in Kansas. He said there was some concern in Webster City at that time that additional reductions might hit the plant.
The loss of the vacuum- system jobs are just one sign of the loss of assembly line jobs across the United States, according to John Kramer, president of the Development Corporation of Fort Dodge and Webster County. He said companies that don't more their assembly line work to other countries that have low cost labor quickly find that they are not longer competitive.
''There's nothing you can do about it,'' he said.
To recover from the loss of those jobs, Iowa communities need to invest in areas where ''we're gaining jobs,'' Kramer said.
Iowa, he said, is gaining jobs in renewable fuels, wind power, food processing, pharmaceuticals and health care.
''Those are shining stars,'' Kramer said.
Kramer said he wasn't aware of any local businesses which provided supplies to the vacuum production line.
Calls seeking comment from Webster City Mayor Gene Gray, City Manager Ed Sadler and Gary Sandholm, director of economic development for Webster City Area development, weren't immediately returned.
Electrolux Central Vacuum Systems is located in the former Beam Industries plant on West Second Street.
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