Post by Tim Collins on Nov 6, 2009 9:27:27 GMT -7
Leviton lays off 100 workers: Slowdown in construction industry in U.S. is blamed
By Ed Shugert / El Paso Times
Posted: 11/06/2009 12:00:00 AM MST
EL PASO -- Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc. has laid off about 100 workers from its West Side facility because of the decline in the nation's construction industry, company officials said Thursday.
Leviton laid off the workers Monday. About 350 workers remain at the plant, said Gerard Fasano, vice president and general manager for Leviton in El Paso.
The facility primarily makes wiring devices, electric switches and receptacles for industrial and housing construction.
Workers who lost their jobs can seek assistance at Workforce Solutions Upper Rio Grande's Bassett Place employment center, said Lorenzo Reyes, CEO for the region's workforce agency.
"We are ready to help them," Reyes said.
He did not know Thursday if the workers would qualify for retraining benefits.
El Paso's construction industry has remained strong during the recession because of the expansion of Fort Bliss, and major projects at the University of Texas at El Paso, University Medial Center and the new medical school.
But Leviton's El Paso facility, which opened in 1993, relies on customers nationwide, Fasano said.
"Leviton is highly tied into the construction industry and has been affected by the slowdown in housing and commercial construction," he said. "We've had a lot of these employees for quite some time, and it's been really sad. This (the layoffs) is tough, the company held off as long as it could, hoping for a turnaround."
Leviton Human Resources Director Joe Holguin said the layoffs did not qualify under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. The WARN Act provides for advance notice of certain large layoffs.
Before the layoff, Leviton had about 450 workers. Information on the Texas Workforce Commission's Web site states, for employers with 50 to 499 employees, layoffs must make up at least 33 percent of the employer's active work force to trigger a WARN notice.
The Leviton job losses add to El Paso's manufacturing job losses this year.
In August, Lear Corp., the Michigan-based automotive parts manufacturer, announced it would close its El Paso distribution warehouse and lay off 155 employees.
The Texas Workforce Commission's most recent data reported El Paso had 17,400 manufacturing jobs in September, 2,000 fewer than in September 2008.
Ed Shugert can be reached at eshugert@elpasotimes.com; 546-6352.
How many Manufacturing jobs did El Paso have prior to NAFTA? It is way past time that we re-think the purpose and rules for international and regional trade treaties. NAFTA has failed the US. You can not enter into such agreements when one country has a large developed economy and the accompanying higher salaries and benefits and the other is fundamentally a 19th century economy in terms of pay and labor rules.