Incomplete list of U.S. job loss announcements and shutdowns.
Connecticut: Southbury Training School laid off 17 people last week, and 25 people last month. It’s all part of the state’s draconian funding cuts. The Constitution State is short at least $1-billion USD!
Florida: Aircraft customizer Florida Modification Specialists now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, mainly for failure to pay debts and taxes.
Idaho: In Boise, rail car maker Motive Power-Wabtech laying off 210 people by mid-July saying “There’s been a major downturn in the freight business, and that is impacting us. Our customers, the Class I railroads, have curtailed their capital spending for 2017.”
The state Department of Labor (DoL) finally updated their WARN site, revealing that ATCO Structures & Logistics laid off 76 people in Pocatello, back in April (who knows why the DoL sat on the WARN for more than a month?). Since 2012 British empire Canada based ATCO has been laying off employees across the U.S. and Canada due to “an economic slowdown” in the mining industry, they’re still “waiting for business to pick up.” 2012 was also the year ATCO opened their Pocatello location, in July, promising to hire 160 people to build mobile facilities for the mining-oil industry. But immediately they froze hiring at 1-hundred, and then in November 2012 they laid off 15 people due to a sudden decline in demand from the mining-oil industry. Then in October 2015, ATCO announced they would hire 75 Pocatellans after winning new contracts for modular buildings, with local economic ‘experts’ claiming it was a sign the economic downturn for Chubbuck and Pocatello was over. Of course all the so called new jobs in the area came as a result of local taxpayers being forced to give these companies massive taxpayer incentives (sounds like socialism and not true free market economics). Back in March of this year the Idaho State Journal reported that “…state law allows companies to receive up to a 30 percent refund of payroll, sales and state income taxes over 15 years if they produce at least 50 new jobs that pay higher than the county average.
Amy’s Kitchen [in Pocatello] received a 26 percent tax credit, which is valued at an estimated $6.7 million…”
Maryland: University of Baltimore laid off 14 people and eliminated 12 vacant jobs, blaming it on at least three years of declining student enrollments.
Missouri: Schnuck Markets ramps up its job killing, 234 people losing their jobs at Schnuck’s brand new grocery distribution center in Kinloch! The jobs are being contracted out to cheaper labor (probably migrants/refugees) with a Connecticut based contractor.
New Jersey: Graphic Packaging issued a shutdown WARN for their Pitcataway location, 117 jobs gone by mid-July! Bankrupt and dying Sports Authority issued a shutdown WARN for their Burlington distribution center, 88 jobs lost by mid-June.
New York: Switzerland based international logistics company Panalpina issued a shutdown WARN for the JFK Airport operations, 38 jobs lost by mid-August. Too Big to Jail JP Morgan Chase laying off 1-hundred people at its ‘private banking’ operations! More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise; NYC based internet auction site Paddle8 laid off at least 16 people as a direct result of their merger with Auctionata. And British empire Canada founded but NYC based Vice News laid off at least 15 digital media employees in California and New York, and began eliminating jobs in Europe.
Oklahoma: Texas based oil company Halliburton ramped up the planned number of layoffs at its Duncan ops to 1-thousand!
Pennsylvania: Military car insurance company USAA shutting down their Market Street Philly office by mid-July. Also in Philadelphia, Southeast Service Corporation issued a shutdown WARN, 55 jobs lost by the end of June. In Port Allegheny, Pittsburgh Corning issued a shutdown WARN, 80 jobs lost by mid-July.
Washington: Two weeks ago Sears Holdings officially denied that their Marysville Kmart was shutting down, calling it “a bad rumor” and swearing to local news media that “the store will remain open”. Guess what? Local news media reporting that the Marysville Kmart is now plastered with “store closing” signs, 47 jobs lost by by mid-July. Arrogantly Sears Holdings said the employees can apply at other Sears/Kmart stores, however, local news reports say it’s the last Kmart in all of Snohomish County. More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise; right after getting a threatening letter for trying to sell aircraft to Iran, Boeing notified “hundreds” of Info Tech employees of impending layoffs in the Puget Sound region!
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.”