Incomplete list of U.S. job loss announcements and shutdowns.
Alabama: Shaw Industries shutting down their Plant 14, 183 jobs lost due to the company’s ongoing consolidations (160 jobs eliminated last year)! In Birmingham, after 42 years McMillan’s Big & Tall clothier shutting down in June. The building will be torn down.
California: In Stockton, after three years restaurant French 25 shutting down by June due to the greedy landlord: “We tried to negotiate a new lease. It didn’t happen.”-Bruce Davis, restaurant owner
Connecticut: In Stamford, British empire Too Big to Jail RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) laying off 33 people by the end of June.
Florida: Saks Fifth Avenue shutting down their Fort Myers store, on Cleveland Avenue, 50 jobs gone by the end of October.
Idaho: More corruption news out of the ‘christian’ dominated Gem State. A month after the Panama Papers were made public by whistleblowers “…a number of Idaho shareholders were listed under Accelonic Ltd., an offshore company with more than 1,000 officers around the world.” Another sham offshore company reportedly involves an Idaho company that makes chemicals to preserve potatoes. Some other sham companies involving Idaho investors are Uluwatu Holdings and DocDoc. “First, where did the money being held in these entities come from? Second, why was the money held in these entities and hidden from view?”-John Miller, University of Idaho
Also, the AFL-CIO’s annual Executive PayWatch survey reports that chief executive officers in Idaho are paid an average 277 times more than Idahoans earning minimum wage, and 149 times more than Idahoans earning a ‘living wage’!
Illinois: In Chicago, elitist diner Baffo shutting down by the end of the month, the owners admitted their “very expensive” eatery “is not capturing the Chicago diner as intended.”
Indiana: In Lafayette, after 37 years Aardvark Furniture shutdown, the owner says its time to retire because “The community has dramatically changed in the last 15 years. Competition has increased unbelievably.”
Kansas: In Wichita, at least three adult learning centers were shutdown due to taxpayer funding cuts.
Kentucky: Mega grocery store owner Kroger refuses to renew the lease for the Bristol Bar and Grille, which has been located at the Kroger owned Prospect Village Shopping Center for the past ten years. Kroger administrators admitted to local news media that they found a new tenant who is willing to pay much higher rent.
Maine: Franklin Community Health Network eliminating 40 jobs and halting any planned pay raises. Administrators blame it on Maine’s version of ObamaCare.
Massachusetts: More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise; Boston Weak based electronic payment processor Merchant Customer eXchange (MCX) laid off 30 people and is once again delaying the release of its new payment processing software.
Michigan: McLaren Flint outsourcing its food service jobs, at least 83 in-house employees unemployed by July.
Minnesota: Globe University-Minnesota School of Business shutting down four campuses due to the state attorney general charging them with frauding students, at least 45 jobs lost.
Mississippi: Merit Health Natchez laid off an undisclosed number of employees. Merit Health Natchez was created when Natchez Regional Medical Center and Natchez Community Hospital merged in an attempt to deal with reduced customer traffic caused by ObamaCare. Administrators said ObamaCare has reduced customer traffic so much that even their new merged hospital ops are still too big!
New Jersey: Paterson School District conducting a second round of layoffs, local news media say administrators are not willing to disclose how many people are becoming unemployed. In Closter, after 13 years the owners of Harvest Bistro and Bar suddenly announced they were shutting down this weekend.
New Mexico: Albuquerque Public Schools eliminating 82 jobs due to being short $9.5-million USD!
New York: In NYC, concert producer SFX Entertainment-Beatport chapter 11 bankrupt busted, at least 60 people losing their jobs. Clothier The Limited shutting down their NYC Lafayette Street store, 39 jobs lost by August. Sears Holdings issued yet another WARN, this time for their Rotterdam Square Mall store, 67 jobs gone by August. The new owner of mattress seller Sleepy’s announced they will eliminate an undisclosed number of jobs, despite building a new warehouse-office in Hicksville. More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise; IBM shutting down its Somers operations by March 2017. Local news reports say at one time the IBM Somers campus employed 3-thousand people!
North Carolina: Medical device maker Arrow International eliminating 456 jobs in Ashboro, between now and sometime in 2017!
Pennsylvania: Too Big to Jail ‘financial services holdings’ company BB&T issued mass layoff WARN, 241 jobs gone by mid-July! Pocono Medical Center laid off 55 people.
Tennessee: In Chattanooga, after more than two years Brash Coffee shutting down by the end of the month. The owners blame their employees “for moving on with their careers……..Brash Chattanooga cannot continue without these amazing people…”
Texas: Three years after emerging from bankruptcy, Dallas based phone number publisher dexmedia.com now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. Administrators said it’s part of their “new strategy” for growth.
West Virginia: In Chester, River Islands Collectibles shutdown.
Wisconsin: Globe University-Minnesota School of Business shutting down two of its four Wisconsin campuses due to the Minnesota state attorney general charging them with frauding students.
17 May 2016: “There’s no reason to be here!”
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification.
I found a 2010 AFL-CIO analysis (titled The Public Availability of WARN Notices: Lack of Accessibility and Disclosure…) which proves what I’ve been suspecting in my search of state WARN notices; most states are not complying with federal WARN regulations and are not publicizing or tracking mass layoffs.
Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed!
Employees of religious non-profits might not qualify for unemployment assistance: “If the non-profit organization is a church, you may or may not be entitled to unemployment. It all depends upon state regulations for church employers. In many cases, churches are allowed to set their own rules regarding unemployment benefits, meaning the church can choose whether to offer benefits to former employees.”
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.”