Incomplete list of announced closings and layoffs:
Blackberry now says at least 45-hundred jobs will be killed! Blackberry is being forced to restructure due to crashing sales.
Alabama: More coal mine shut downs. Rocky Mountain Mining and Twin Pines laid off a combined 113 people!
California: Tax sucker Boeing laid off 51 people across the not so Golden State. In San Francisco, John Muir Health begging 212 employees to voluntarily quit! This is on top of the 540 employees that are being laid off!!! CEO, Cal Knight, referred to Obama Care when he said “In this new health care environment, our current costs are not sustainable in the long run.” In San Jose, Tico’s Tacos shut down after 56 years in business. In Sacramento, eight Papa John’s take-n-bake pizza places shut down without notice! 50+ employees will not get their final paychecks (I’ve experienced that). Company officials said only that it was due to “…circumstances beyond our control…” (In my case the circumstances beyond my employer’s control was the state of Idaho seizing all her assets, for failure to pay taxes/fines, then telling we employees there was nothing left over to pay us with. In other words the state killed our jobs and took our money! And conveniently none of us qualified for unemployment under the state’s draconian Right to Work you over unemployment compensation program) In El Centro, International Paper shut down. 110 jobs lost!
Florida: In Jacksonville, cigar maker Swisher International laid off 250 people! Company officials blamed government regulations for their decision to move ops to Dominican Republic. In Orlando, Darden Restaurants laid off 85 people at the HQ. Company officials said they need to save $50-million USD per year!
Illinois: In Kewanee, Charitable Resource Foundation shut down. 60 jobs lost.
Indiana: In Carmel, Frontier Communications laid off 54 employees.
Massachusetts: Harvard Pilgrim Health Care laid off 65 employees. CEO Eric Schultz blamed Obama Care for “….the changing health care environment.” Say, isn’t Obama Care based on Romney Care, and Romney Care was created for Massachusetts?
Michigan: In Berkley, Hiller’s grocery store shut down. Company officials blamed “…many factors…” including the cost of renovation and lack of parking. Basically, the bad economy doesn’t make it worth putting more money into the store.
Minnesota: Crystal Care Home Health Services now bankrupt. Local news reports said employees are working without pay! The health care provider is accused of ripping off Medicaid. 800 employees affected!
Missouri: Bankrupt furniture maker, Furniture Brands/Thomasville, announced they will shut down all corporate owned stores!
New Jersey: The South Brunswick YMCA shut down.
New York: In Wappingers Falls, Southeastern Container shut down. 31 jobs lost.
North Carolina: In Smithfield, electronics maker AB Interconnect shutting down a factory. 70 jobs lost.
Oklahoma: In Tulsa, Steve’s Sundry Books & Magazines shutting down on 31 December 2013. The owner said the timing of the lease expiring and declining book sales seems to indicate she needs “…to begin the next chapter in my life.”
Rhode Island: The Providence Journal laid off about 30 employees. Revenues continue to drop.
South Carolina: In York, Stacy’s Garden Center shut down after 39 years of business. It’s blamed on ‘big box’ competition.
South Dakota: In Huron, tax sucker Raven Aerostar shutting down. 75 jobs lost. Their contracts to supply U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan ended.
Texas: In Edinburg, International Paper-Edinburg East Container Plant shut down. 105 jobs lost!
Utah: In Ogden, after 40 years Gardiner’s Sew & Quilt shut down. “We just gotta retire. The years have caught up with us.”-Kurt Gardiner, 80 something years old owner
Washington: Sprint laying off 161 people! Company officials blame it on their takeover of Clearwire. Saint John Medical Center has reduced the hours of its nursing staff. No, it’s not to make the working conditions better, it’s blamed on declining customers and reduced reimbursements from Obama Care. Saint John is owned by PeaceHealth Columbia Network, which recently eliminated 500 jobs at its various hospitals!
West Virginia: In Moundsville, TeleTech shut down. 258 jobs lost!
Wisconsin: In Waunakee, Owens & Minor Distribution shut down. 70 jobs lost.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shut down.
“Our ideals and principles, as well as our national security……..That’s what makes America different. That’s what makes us exceptional.”-Barack Obama, 10 September 2013