Thread: Whirlpool to lay off 730 U.S. workers

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?S ... 2849-9330r

BENTON HARBOR, Mich., Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Whirlpool Corp. said Monday it would dismiss about 730 workers at an Arkansas plant once a replacement factory in Mexico is operational.

The Michigan-based company recently built a refrigerator plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, to produce side-by-side refrigerator-freezer models, beginning in 2006. The Mexican plant will employ 1,000 workers.

Once the Ramos Arizpe facility is operational, about 730 employees at Whirlpool's Fort Smith, Ark., plant will be part of a layoff, currently planned for October 2006. Some models now made in Fort Smith will be shifted to the new Mexican plant, Whirlpool said.

"Whirlpool currently anticipates that the vast majority of the layoffs will be voluntary and many of those employees would be recalled within 18 months, as part of the normal attrition rate at the Fort Smith facility," said a statement by the company, which is buying Iowa-based Maytag Corp.

I saw this on the news yesterday. I cant believe they would shut down their plant and reopen in Mexico! I am so sorry to all of the Americans who lost their jobs. NEVER BUY WHIRLPOOL AGAIN!
If anyone wonders, WHIRLPOOL is the brand all SEARS stores sell under their KENMORE name. DONT BUY SEARS EITHER.