Thread: Did you know this about NAFTA?

Monday, August 07, 2006




News

Permanent layoffs begin at Mitchell factory; Facility preparing for 2007 closing


By MIKE LEWIS, mikel@tmnews.com
Wednesday, August 2, 2006 10:43 AM CDT



MITCHELL - Permanent layoffs have started at Mitchell's Dana Corp. plant.

Troy Borden, president of United Steelworkers Local 119A, said the layoffs did not come as a surprise. Fourteen people had been given notice as of Tuesday.

“There will probably be another 30 or so this month,” he said, “and another 30 or so next month.”

The company had already told employees that the plant would close between April and October 2007. Borden and plant manager Arthur Carter said the new target date is July 2007.

According to employees, work done at the Mitchell plant will be moved to factories in Mexico and Ohio.

Borden and other local workers maintain the Mitchell factory has always operated efficiently.


“There's no reason to shut the Mitchell plant down,” Borden said. “That was done at the corporate level.”

Some 300 people work at the factory, which makes a variety of products for the automotive industry. It has been the largest employer in Mitchell.

About 265 of those workers are members of the union. The union has been working without a raise for about three years, Borden said. That was a concession workers made to keep the jobs in Mitchell.

In February, more than 100 people turned out to talk about the future of the facility. Local officials and state lawmakers pledged to do what they can for Dana employees.



Borden - who has always maintained that there are good relationships between local workers and managers - said some workers can opt for the layoffs. Otherwise, he said, the list is being drawn up based on job classifications and a person's seniority.

“We do have a closing agreement that is a contract with the steelworkers,” Carter said. “The process of laying people off - that's also part of the contract. We can't just go out and start cutting people. That's not right, and that's not what the contract says.”

Dana workers will qualify for training programs so they can learn skills for other jobs, Borden said. It's part of a government package for workers whose jobs were lost because of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“We were successful in achieving that,” Borden said, “so as people get laid off, they do qualify to be trained.”

Information about that program is available through the local WorkOne office, he said.

Carter said there will be more layoffs in the coming months. To reduce jobs, however, Dana must get the OK from its major customer, Ford Motor Co., and that often comes at the last minute.

“It's extremely hard timing,” Carter said. “It's not convenient for us, and it's not convenient for our employees.”

Times-Mail Managing Editor Mike Lewis welcomes comments at 277-7258 or by e-mail at mikel@tmnews.com.

http://www.americaneconomicalert.com/ne ... ID=2188318



The part I enlarged, did you all know about this? I didn't! So, they knew NAFTA would lay people off and went ahead and did it anyway!

My job went to Canada in 1998. Signing for unemployment, I was told that I qualified for schooling since manufacturing was now considered a declining industry. You must go full time which is a little hard to do while having no job. I was taking courses towards an Associate in Real Estate Investment. I completed half the requirements then was recalled to work for one month, interupting my classes. I never finished.
Yeah, they knew the jobs were going.

Oh, so sorry. Did you find another job? Is it a good job?

Yeah, they don't think things through do they? One can't go to school full time, when they need to work to get money to pay their bills.