Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
California: In Trona, evil gold miner CR Briggs issued a WARN saying 39 employees will become unemployed in July. The city of Shasta Lake laid off three firefighters due to lack of tax payer funding. The fire chief was upset: “It’s horrible, I told three friends of mine they don’t have a job anymore…”-Dennis Bech
Colorado: Zenith Education Group continues mass kill-off of jobs, this time in Thornton. 131 call center employees were laid off! It’s the result of Zenith’s takeover of failed Corinthian College, as well as what I call Disappearing Student Syndrome (DSS): “We had a reduction in the student population and we are merging some call centers to the one located in Tampa.”-Krissy Humenesky
Florida: Darden Restaurants laid off 30 people at their Orlando HQ. They laid off employees last year as well. Administrators say the economy is forcing them to “streamline”. Darden operates Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House, Eddie V’s Prime Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52 and Bahama Breeze.
Georgia: In Augusta, after 35 years Ming Yat Chinese Restaurant shutdown.
Illinois: God refuses to stop the shutdown of the 44 years old Sunshine Preschool based in the Wheaton Evangelical Free Church. It’s blamed on the need for renovations and The Rapture, I mean Disappearing Student Syndrome. What automotive industry recovery? In Decatur, Allied Recreation Group laid off more than 50 recreational vehicle (RV) employees due to crashing sales.
Maryland: Unilever announced it is moving its vegetable oil and margarine (like Country Crock and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter) ops from Baltimore to Kansas, 137 jobs lost by June! Company administrators blamed it on crashing demand, resulting in too much supply (which they called “over-capacity”).
Michigan: In Parchment, paper products company Georgia-Pacific announced they’re shutting down their Dixie factory in December, at least 57 jobs lost. Parchment mayor Rob Heasley reacted as any ‘merican who doesn’t pay attention to economic reality does, saying “I didn’t see this coming at all. We’ve been assured repeatedly by the plant staff that everything was really good and the place was very profitable.” If he really paid attention he’d realize that corporate America always claims things are going good right before they shut things down, it’s standard propaganda.
New York: In Cheektowaga, second run Movieland 8 Theatres (note the British empire way of spelling theater) shutdown, apparently without notice. The owners said they couldn’t afford to upgrade to digital. Theaters are being forced to upgrade to digital because more and more movies are available only in digital. The owners tried to raise money through crowdsourcing, but it failed. Lackmann Culinary Services issued a WARN saying they’ve lost their contract with Stony Brook University’s Kelly Dining Center, 386 jobs lost by the end of June! In Bronx, Amertex Textile Services issued a WARN saying 95 laundry workers will become jobless in August, due to the bad economy. In North Syracuse, Seneca Data Distributors (owned by Arrow Electronics) amended their 2014 WARN, yet again, this time pushing their shutdown to September. They are joining the mass exodus from The Empire State and moving to Arizona. What automotive industry recovery? In Tonawanda, British empire Canada owned auto parts wholesaler Uni-Select issued a WARN saying they’re shutting down in August, 33 jobs lost. The assets of the U.S. Uni-Select operations are being sold to U.S. based Icahn Enterprises, which will affect 38 warehouses, 240 stores and 3-thousand 5-hundred U.S. employees across the country! It’s part of Canadian owned Uni-Select’s plan to get out of the suck-ass U.S. market! The Delaware and Hudson Railway Company is no more! They’ve issued a shutdown WARN that affects nine locations, and at least 3-hundred jobs will be lost by August!
North Carolina: Employees of computer company Lenovo reported that the company is laying off people. Local news reports say Lenovo administrators refused to talk at first, but then admitted they were eliminating the jobs of 235 former IBM employees! It’s the result of Lenovo’s purchase of IBM’s System X ops. Software company ChannelAdvisor admitted it laid off employees, but refused to say how many. Local news reports say the company hasn’t filed a WARN, yet.
North Dakota: In Bismarck, After almost 80 years Corwin Churchill Appliance shutdown. Bruce Whittey, the president of the appliance chain store, blames the greedy landowner who sold the property out from under their feet!
Oklahoma: Cinemark shutdown its Tusla theater. The movie venue had degraded to a ‘second run’ operation in recent years, and apparently Cinemark didn’t think the Tusla market was worth upgrading their 26 years old eight screened theater.
Pennsylvania: Camden City School District laid off 92 employees due to funding cuts caused by what I call DSS. Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard called it “a brutal process”.
Texas: In San Antonio, specialty grocery store Gaucho Gourmet shutdown. It will continue to sell on the internet. Maritime diesel engine maintainer Kirby laid off 2-hundred people, due to crashing demand for the service!
Washington: In Spokane, aircraft interior manufacturer Triumph Composite Systems laid off 25 employees.
West Virginia: Only 18 months after emerging from bankruptcy, Patriot Coal is again chapter 11 bankrupt busted. The mining company has $1-billion of debt. Kanawha Eagle Coal, Patriot Ventures and Highland Mining Company also went chapter 11 bankrupt.
08 – 10 May 2015: “I love the business….I’m just not making money.”
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”