Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 21, 1992                   TAG: 9203210275
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

HUBBELL FURLOUGHS 2 DOZEN

Ted Overbaugh, president of the International Union of Electronic Workers local 160, said Thursday the cutback was purely economic.

"Something's happened in the last couple of weeks that the bottom fell out of the lighting market," he said.

Some orders the company was relying on have not come through, he said. Further, the brunt of last year's recession is just now catching up with Hubbell.

The lighting industry lags about six months behind the rest of the construction industry "because lights and everything is the last thing put into a building, the last thing put in parking lots."

Overbaugh said that company officials indicated the workers probably would not be recalled until August, at the earliest. To his knowledge, there would be no more layoffs.

Tom Conlin, spokesman for the Connecticut-based corporation, was not in his office Thursday. His secretary said Conlin is the only person authorized to talk to reporters.

Local company executives have consistently referred media questions to Conlin in the past.

Bob Bosser, a union steward and trustee, said, "I know Hubbell's being as nice as they can about it, as fair as they can."

Bosser said the 26 workers were laid off based on seniority at the plant, and will be eligible for unemployment benefits. "There's a lot of rumors, a lot of unrest" among the remaining workers about the near future, he said. "But everyone has just accepted it as a way of life."

Overbaugh said that several departments cut back to four days this week, and one department went down to three days. Those schedules will likely continue into next week, he said.

Over the last two years, Hubbell has laid off about 60 people. About 260 non-salaried employees continue to work at the plant, not including those laid off this week.

Overbaugh said the recent round of cuts is especially troublesome now, just coming off a "joyful time."

Two weeks ago, Hubbell and the union reached a three-year contract settlement that included pay raises and only slight increases in employees' health care costs.

"Everything they did was in line with our contract," Overbaugh said.