ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 6, 1995 TAG: 9512060082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: DUBLIN
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
Another 100 hourly and salaried employees at Volvo GM Heavy Truck Corp.'s Pulaski County plant will be laid off in January, the second announcement of layoffs there in about a month.
The number of truck orders at the plant has been decreasing this fall, prompting the Greensboro, N.C.-based company to announce Nov. 3 that 100 to 150 workers would be laid off in early January. This latest decision means as many as 250 people will lose their jobs, though company officials have not worked out exact numbers.
Plant Manager Jim Cox said truck orders slacked off significantly in November, which resulted in the need for further layoffs and more reductions in the number of trucks produced at the plant. December does not look much better, he said.
"I would not have thought we'd have the month we've had in November," Cox said. "We thought when we made the first reduction that we could sustain that."
Since the first layoff announcement, the plant has been producing 75 trucks a day - five fewer than earlier in the fall. The original plan was to make only 64 trucks a day starting in early January, but that has since been lowered to 56 effective Jan. 2.
"It's terrible that it can happen so quick," said Sherman Blankenship, president of United Auto Workers Local 2069. "In five weeks, the whole world has turned upside down."
Workers were told of the latest layoffs Tuesday afternoon. As the first-shift workers left the plant in a cold rain, several said they were disappointed but not surprised by the announcement. Rumors of another impending layoff had been circulating for days, many said.
One man, who has worked at the plant for 18 years, said they were fortunate that orders were up for so long before this recent downturn.
"If you're booming, you're booming," said the man, who did not want to give his name. "If you're not, you go with the flow. We knew this was coming."
Because the company has not determined exactly how many people will be laid off, individuals have not yet been told whether they will lose their jobs, though a seniority list has been posted. People who were hired from late 1993 to 1995 could be laid off, Cox said.
Most of the people who will lose their jobs are hourly employees, Cox said. During the first two years, an assembly worker is paid between $13.78 and $15 an hour.
Volvo GM had been doing record business during the past four years, producing up to 90 trucks a day just a few months ago. Last year, the company announced that it would build a $200 million expansion to its Pulaski County plant, and it got significant state and local funding for the high-volume paint facility and cab assembly plant.
In anticipation of increased production at the plant, Cox said 500 people were hired during the past 18 months, bringing total employment to 1,700.
The expansion, which is still slated to open in late 1996, will employ about 100 more people.
During the second half of this year, the heavy truck industry was hit with cancellations and fewer orders as the economy slowed. Companies such as Volvo GM and Mack Truck Inc. in Pennsylvania eventually began announcing layoffs.
Pulaski County Administrator Joe Morgan said because Volvo GM has been adding employees during the past few months, the number of people who work at the plant is "above where anyone expected them to be, even now."
The New River Valley Response Team, which was created when AT&T's Fairlawn plant closed and put more than 1,000 people out of work six years ago, will be available to help laid-off workers with job prospects and finances.
Staff writer Paul Dellinger contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 linesby CNB