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The Des Moines Register reports that Maytag will eliminate 50 positions
Maytag will lay off 50 workers tomorrowFebruary 23, 2006
Maytag plans to lay off 50 production workers at its Newton plant on Friday, a union leader said today.
Ted Johnson, president of United Auto Workers Local 997, said the layoffs will cut the plant’s production work force to about 1,000 workers.
Johnson said the company said the layoffs were necessary because there has been no growth in sales of products produced at the plant.
The plant produces three lines of washers and their companion dryers. The lines are Maytag’s original Neptune front-load washing machine, a long-standing topload washer known as the Dependable Care and a topload called Atlantis.
Johnson blamed the company for the flat sales of Newton products, saying sales have stagnated because the company no longer advertises the machines.
Company representatives weren’t immediately available for comment.
The plant’s work force dropped to 1,000 last August, but a number of workers had been called back, putting the number back to 1,050 before the new round of layoffs, Johnson said.
The plant’s work force was 2,600 in 2001, he added.
However, jobs have been cut since then, with the company saying it would not put any new product lines in the plant until costs were cut.
The company, citing wages and benefits paid to union workers, says the Newton factory is the company’s highest-cost plant.
The union has said the workers’ pay is deserved because of their productivity. Johnson says the plant continues to be profitable.
Is it just me, or is anyone reminded of that TV commercial that aired during the Super Bowl with the “cost cutting executive” leading a meeting with the one remaining employee? (“I eliminated our workforce – what have you done to save the company money?”)
What seems bizarre: evidently there was enough product demand to recall 50 employees, just to announce the hard times you’re going through is causing you to lay off 50 people. How ‘bout focusing a little harder on moving product than cutting costs?
(Tune into this afternoon’s Rush Limbaugh program to learn how unions are the downfall of American manufacturing.)
- sousy
February 23rd, 2006 at 8:00 pm
When I was growing up my dad was one of those “lonely Maytag repairmen”. That slogan is actually quite correct. Maytag makes terrific products and I truly believe that it’s because the union workers there are knowledgable, skillful and proud of what they do. It sure is sad to see that Maytag management has decided that these qualities no longer matter to them.