Freightliner to cut almost 1,000 jobs at Cleveland, NC truck plant

[kscarbel2]

Charlotte Business Journal / January 4, 2016

Freightliner will lay off almost 1,000 workers from its Rowan County heavy truck factory in a move the company says is temporary.

Freightliner owner Daimler Trucks North America says the layoffs will cut the 3,100-member work force at the Cleveland plant by 936. It will also reduce the plant’s output of heavy-duty Freightliner and Western Star trucks by one-third.

The layoffs are due to "a sustained reduction in orders and diminished build rate," DTNA wrote in a letter delivered to the N.C. Department of Commerce. The N.C. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice was dated Dec. 31.

A news release issued Monday by DTNA says the cuts are “in anticipation of a softer North American truck market in 2016, which will be somewhat below the very strong market of 2015,” writes DTNA spokesman David Giroux.

The layoffs are effective Friday, but employees will be paid for the work missed from Friday until the 60-day WARN notice deadline, which is early March, says Giroux, who is based at DTNA’s Portland, Ore., headquarters.

Assemblers will be the biggest hit among the job classifications at the DTNA plant in the Rowan County town of Cleveland. The list says 666 assembler jobs will be cut. Next up for job cuts is a classification called “utility team member,” which will see 107 jobs eliminated.

Combined with two other plants in the Charlotte area and a Fort Mill administrative center, DTNA employees more than 6,000 in the area.

Freightliner employment has fluctuated as the company faced constraints ranging from a shortage of truck drivers to a downturn in truck sales. Before this layoff, DTNA was approaching a record number for Charlotte-area employees.

See the layoff notice here.

[kscarbel2]

Freightliner to cut nearly 1,000 jobs at NC truck plant

The Charlotte Observer / January 4, 2016

Almost 1,000 workers are being laid off from a North Carolina Freightliner truck manufacturing plant in a move the company believes will be temporary until demand increases.

The division of Daimler Trucks North America said Monday the layoffs of about 940 workers will leave about 2,200 employees at its Cleveland heavy-truck plant.

Laid-off workers will receive pay and benefits for nearly two months after the cuts take effect Friday. Federal law requires big employers to provide a two-month notice ahead of mass layoffs.

The company said in May it would add more than 600 jobs and a third production shift at its plant in nearby Mount Holly, which makes Freightliner medium-duty trucks.

Daimler Trucks is a division of Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler AG. Its U.S. corporate headquarters is in Portland, Oregon.

[kscarbel2]

David Giroux, director of corporate communication and public relations for Daimler Trucks North America, released the following statement:

"Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) provided Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (“WARN”) to plant employees and Bargaining Unit representatives regarding a planned reduction in force of approximately 936 workers at the Cleveland Truck Manufacturing Plant. This workforce adjustment will be effective on March 5, 2016; however, the impacted employees’ last day of work will be Friday, January 8, 2016. Employees will receive payment in lieu of the notice period at each employee’s regular rate of pay, and employees are free to seek and accept other employment during the notice period without jeopardizing their entitlement to the WARN period payment or benefits. DTNA’s WARN Act notification is due to a sustained reduction in orders and a diminished build rate and is considered temporary.

"The Cleveland Truck Manufacturing Plant is located in Cleveland, North Carolina and manufactures heavy-duty Freightliner and Western Star trucks. The facility presently employs approximately 3,100 workers, which will be reduced to approximately 2,200 after the temporary adjustment. DTNA is reducing output by one-third at the Cleveland Facility in anticipation of a softer North American truck market in 2016, which will be somewhat below the very strong market of 2015.

"DTNA has no further comment on the layoffs."

[david wild]

And of course the Libs keep on bragging about the robust economy, more like a bust economy ???