Incomplete list of U.S. job loss announcements and shutdowns.
Since 2008 beer maker Anheuser-Busch has been owned by Belgium, today in an effort to increase sales they changed the name of Budweiser to America. It’ll probably work ’cause there are still a lot of people in the U.S. that think Budweiser, I mean America, is still American. Remember, it was the Belgians who created French Fries, the name came from dumb American ‘Dough Boys’ (World War 1 soldiers) who thought they were in France. Then after 9-11 the dumb American Congress tried to ban French Fries as a way of punishing France for not supporting the illegal invasion of Iraq.
California: In Simi Valley, Too Big to Jail Bank of America eliminating 90 jobs by mid-June. In South Lake Tahoe, Diversified Transportation shutting down, 65 jobs lost by the end of June. In Yucca Valley, school bus contractor First Student laying off five people (in addition to the previously announced 71 layoffs) by the end of June. In Los Angeles, Andromeda Entertainment shutting down, 96 jobs gone by July. In Lake Forest, Quantum Fuel Systems shutting down, 110 jobs gone by the end of June! In Menlo Park, after 134 years (surviving The Great [deflationary] Depression and numerous recessions) pioneering Beltramo’s Wines & Spirits shutting down to be sold-off. Don’t blame the economy or the internet (they sell on ebay), the only heir to the family business says she is not ready to take over. More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise; Sacramento based newspaper owner The McClatchy Company off-shoring 150 U.S. InfoTech jobs to India! Xerox laying off 55 people in Riverside, by the end of June. Cisco Systems killed yet more jobs, this time 83 people in San Jose rendered jobless. In San Francisco, Roof Diagnostics Solar and Electric issued a WARN, 48 jobs gone by July.
Colorado: The following restaurants reported as shutting down this week; Bubu Lowry, Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs, Big Country’s Bar-B-Que, Protein Bar Colorado Boulevard, Viand and Willie G’s Seafood & Steak.
Connecticut: Roof Diagnostics Solar and Electric issued a shutdown WARN for their Middletown operation, 46 jobs lost by mid-July. In South Windsor, General Electric (GE) issued a WARN saying 1-hundred people will become jobless starting in July, no official reason given.
Florida: Tampa Media Group shutting down, 3-hundred jobs gone by July!
Kansas: It’s being revealed that Gessler Drug Company suddenly shutdown two drug stores two weeks ago: “It hit me like a ton of bricks! ….I couldn’t tell anybody what was going on.”-Allen Ames, operated Ames Watch Repair inside Gessler’s stores for more than forty years
Minnesota: In Minneapolis, after 20 years Big Brain Comics shutting down in June. Owner Michael Drivas says he’s tired of playing the game, “You’re either always working, or never working.”
Missouri: What housing market recovery? Two years after re-entering the home loan market Ditech Financial eliminating 103 jobs by September, as it shuts down its debt collects ops in Earth City!
New York: British empire founded but now NYC based news agency Reuters essentially reported that your ‘elected’ officials are lying about economic recovery, especially in manufacturing: “People are hanging on by their fingernails in manufacturing.”-J.B. Brown, Bremen Castings of Indiana which saw a 40% crash in sales since 2014
“Companies are becoming more reluctant to expand and more cost conscious, so that cutback in hiring is a reflection of that.”-Christopher Williamson, economist who says U.S. factories are eliminating an average of 10-thousand jobs per month
In Rochester, Moe’s Southwest Grill shutting down their East Avenue location this weekend. More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise; insurance company New York Life issued a WARN saying 104 InfoTech employees in NYC and Sleepy Hollow will become unemployed by January 2017! The jobs are being “outsourced”.
North Carolina: Haywood County Board of Education eliminating 14 jobs and shutting down Central Elementary. They need to cut $2-million USD from their budget.
Oklahoma: Oil and natural gas producer Chaparral Energy chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to $1.2-billion USD of debt!
Pennsylvania: The FDIC seized First CornerStone Bank and handed the assets over to First-Citizens Bank & Trust. What housing market recovery? As part of the demise of Mechanicsburg based home builder Innovative Building Systems, subsidiary excelHomes notified state administrators that they’ve already laid off 291 employees! In Harrisburg, school bus contractor First Student issued a layoff WARN, 43 people jobless by the end of June. Despite reporting an increased demand for Ketchup, Presbyterian/Agnostic Warren Buffett eliminating 40 Kraft-Heinz jobs in Pittsburgh, they’re being contracted out by June. In Richland Township, customers and employees woke to find the Ryan’s restaurant shutdown. Parent company Ovation Brands apparently exited bankruptcy, but the property owner is still pissed that they didn’t pay the rent while in bankruptcy so he kicked them out: “I was there last night, I closed, and they didn’t say a word to us.”-Trista Miller, a pregnant Ryan’s employee who worked a 13 hours shift
Tennessee: The FDIC seized Trust Company Bank and handed the assets over to The Bank of Fayette County.
Texas: Bloomberg reports that so far this year Houston based petroleum contractor Schlumberger is leading the way with the most job cuts; 20-thousand in the past four months!
Washington: The manager of radioactive River Corridor Closure Project, Washington Closure Hanford, issued a shutdown WARN for their Richland office, 435 jobs gone starting in July!
Wisconsin: Tyson Foods shutting down their Jefferson pepperoni factory in July, 250 jobs lost!
09 May 2016: “We are done…”
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.”