Slow death spiral since 1961, “with no signs of future improvement”! : July 2016 U.S. Mining/Industrial/Logistics Layoffs

Incomplete list of U.S. Mining/Industrial/Logistics job loss announcements and shutdowns for July 2016.

California:  Coty shutting down its OPI Products nail polish factory in North Hollywood, 408 jobs gone by September!   Warehouse leaser Brookvale International issued a shutdown WARN for its Carson ops, 107 jobs gone by September!  Ryder issued a shutdown WARN for its Fontana location.  Medical products distributor Owens & Minor issued layoff WARNs for Ontario and Tracy, 189 jobs gone by the end of August! Skywest Airlines issued a mass layoff WARN for their LAX ops, 325 jobs gone by the end of August! In Pittsburg, metal maker USS-POSCO issued a mass layoff WARN, 643 jobs gone by September (supposedly temporarily)!  Orange County based sunglass maker Oakely warned of layoffs due to consolidation of retail operations to Ohio.  Impact Logistics issued a shutdown WARN for the City of Industry, 61 jobs gone by the end of August.

Florida: A leader in technology-enabled customer service, utilizing in-person and automated service delivery” Faneuil issued two WARNs, 426 jobs in Orlando and Boca Raton gone by the end of August!  Petroleum industry gas supplier Air Products laid off 30 people, despite getting taxpayer incentives to create new jobs.   WestRock Jax shutting down their Jacksonville paper & box factory, 127 jobs lost by September! 

Illinois:  It was revealed that Chicago based aerospace company Boeing eliminated 4-thousand 5-hundred jobs by the end of June!  Boeing administrators are warning of even more job cuts.  Peoria based maker of heavy vehicles, mainly for the mining industry, Caterpillar says their crashing sales continue and warned of even more layoffs for the second half of 2016.  To give you an example of how bad sales for Caterpillar are; in 2012 they made 1-thousand 7-hundred mining trucks, this year they’ll make less than 1-hundred!  Car parts maker Bergstrom issued a layoff WARN for its Joliet factory, 50 jobs lost due to relocation of production.   In Centralia, American Machine Company warned city government administrators that 30 jobs could be lost in connection with parent company Murray Energy’s massive country wide layoffs.  WSIL reported that massive coal industry layoffs are killing mom&pop businesses: “Clientele that we were seeing two and three times a week has dropped to once a week.”-Tyson Cummins, restaurant owner

“It just seems like, Saline County, we just hang on down here, that’s about all we do.”-Mike McKinnies, county board member

Indiana: Audio equipment maker Harman International shipping 125 Elkhart jobs to California and Mexico!  What housing market recovery? Door & window maker VT Industries shutting down their New Albany factory, 120 jobs gone by the end of October!

Iowa: What automotive industry recovery? Commercial Vehicle Group shutting down its factory in Monona by March 2017, and moving 146 U.S. jobs to Mexico!  Terex shutdown their crane factory in Waverly, 175 jobs lost to consolidation.

Kentucky: After surviving The Great Depression CAT Whayne Supply (one of the oldest Caterpillar service companies) laying off 87 employees “Due to deterioration in our traditional markets in the eastern Kentucky area and coal industry with no signs of future improvement for some time…”

Louisiana: Oil industry contractor Blue Sky Innovations issued a WARN, at least 58 jobs lost between now and Xmas, due to loss of a contract.  GE (General Electric) Oil & Gas issued a shutdown WARN, almost all of its Pineville employees will be laid off, that’s 269 people unemployed by Xmas!

Maryland:  What housing market recovery? Baltimore based Development Design Group chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to the yet to be recovered housing market.  Administrators say for the first half of this year they’ve lost at least $500-thousand USD, 85 people have been laid off, so far.

Michigan: Dow Corning issued shutdown WARNs for two factories, 348 employees unemployed by the end of September!   PAE lost its USPS Postal Operations Mail Transport Equipment Service Centers contract, 58 jobs lost by November.  What automotive industry recovery? In Detroit, Martinrea Hot Stampings issued several WARNs with layoffs ranging from 32 to 122!   Commercial Vehicle Group shutting down its administrative office in Wixom by September 2016.  After being caught lying about car sales, Fiat-Chrysler announced it will halt all U.S. production of cars!  Chrysler brand cars will be made outside of the U.S.  Administrators claim they’ll shift U.S. car factories to SUVs and trucks production.  Here’s why; it costs about the same to build a truck as it does a car, yet stupid U.S. consumers are willing to pay out-the-ass for a truck, meaning the profit margin on a truck, or SUV, is much higher than a car.  Canada based Martinrea International laying off 68 people by the end of August, due to Fiat Chrysler halting production of the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Dart.   Ford shocked ‘investors’ when it reported that its 2nd quarter pre-tax profits fell by $400-million USD from the same time last year!  Administrators admitted the U.S. vehicle market is going down, and blamed part of their lower profits on increased customer incentives used to trick, I mean convince people to buy a new car they can’t afford.

Minnesota: Essar Steel Minnesota chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to the gov’na canceling the company’s lease on a taconite project. Gov’na Mark Dayton claims the steel company has repeatedly failed to pay sub-contractors.

New Jersey: Kenco Logistic Services shutting down in Robbinsville, 415 jobs gone by mid-September!  Morristown based aerospace company Honeywell says it will eliminate an undisclosed number of jobs due to declining demand.  Perfume maker Chanel eliminating 75 jobs in Piscataway, by the end of September.  Heyco Products eliminating 107 jobs in Toms River, by the end of September!   Jordan Transportation eliminating 81 jobs in Parsippany, by the end of August.

New York: Charter bus service Schoolman Transportation System (Classic Coach) chapter 11 bankrupt busted and shutting down their Bohemia location, 56 jobs lost by the end of September.  In Dunkirk, Berry Plastics issued a shutdown WARN, 54 jobs gone due to consolidation of operations, by the end of October.  Sodium/lithium refiner Chemours issued a shutdown WARN for their Niagara Falls operation, 145 jobs gone by 2017!  Berry Plastics issued a shutdown WARN for their Dunkirk packaging ops, 54 jobs gone by Halloween.

North Carolina: FedEx owned reverse shipper Genco issued a WARN for their Charlotte location, 53 jobs gone by the end of August!

North Dakota: Great River Energy shutting down their 50 years old Stanton coal fired power plant, by 2017, saying they’re not being paid enough for the electricity they create.  At least 65 jobs lost.

Ohio: Saint Clairsville based coal giant Murray Energy is warning that it could layoff 4-thousand 4-hundred employees across six states in September! Administrators blame the Obama regime’s anti-coal policy, coal prices and deteriorating negotiations with employee’s union.  Newspaper The Blade revealed that Cleveland’s factory jobs have been in a slow death spiral since 1961!   What automotive industry recovery? Commercial Vehicle Group shutting down its stamping and assembly factory in Shadyside, 172 jobs gone by June 2017!  Belmont County Commissioner Ginny Favede warned the commercial Vehicle Group shutdown cause “a ripple effect from losing the jobs and the taxes.”

Oregon: Upper Columbia Mill in Boardman shutting down, 67 jobs gone by September. 

Pennsylvania: FedEx issued a shutdown WARN, 139 Pittsburgh jobs gone by August!  “Reclamation” service company Clover eliminating 65 jobs by the end of August.  In Monessen, Murray American Transportation eliminating 63 jobs by the end of August.  In Black Lick, C&J Well Services laying off 73 people in September.  British empire based aircraft interior maker Triumph Industries shutting down their Oakdale operations, 53 jobs lost by March 2017.

South Carolina:  The new owner of battery maker Duracell , agnostic Warren Buffet, shutting down their AA battery factory in Lancaster killing at least 430 local jobs!  Buffett is consolidating Duracell production.

Tennessee:  FedEx owned reverse shipper Genco issued a shutdown WARN for their Memphis location, 160 jobs gone by the end of August!

Texas: Houston based oil company Halcón Resources now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, blaming oil prices.  The bankrupt Sherwin Alumina Company being sold to a competitor and its factory in Gregory shutting down.  Houston based ConocoPhillips announced it will eliminate 1-thousand oil jobs by the end of the year!  Oilfield service company C&J Energy Services now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. DuPont shutting down its La Porte operations, local news media say at one time the factory employed 5-hundred people!

Virginia: Sweden based truck maker Volvo rendering 3-hundred people unemployed by September!  In February Volvo laid off 5-hundred employees, then warned in May that a second round of layoffs would take place.    Ongoing crashing demand for new trucks is blamed.  HVAC company Bristol Compressors laid off and additional 60 people due to crashing international sales.  In May, administrators laid off 120 people.

Washington: Electrical hardware company Minerallac issued a shutdown WARN for a Seattle location.  Triumph Group shutting down their decades old Triumph Structures ops in Everett, at least 99 jobs gone by the end of September. Spectrum Glass shutting down their Woodinville location in September.  In Tukwila, Jorgensen Forge shutting down, 111 jobs gone in September!

West Virginia: 66 years old CAT Walker Machinery laying off 78 people due to crashing demand for service.

Wisconsin:  Cascade Purchase Holdings-New Hampshire Industries issued a shutdown WARN for their Horicon hardware factory, 39 jobs gone by the end of September.  Hydraulic controls maker HUSCO International issued a layoff WARN, 97 Waukesha jobs gone by mid-September.

Wyoming: Ammonia nitrate (you know, fertilizer and bombs) maker Dyno Nobel laying off 15 people due to the coal industry BS.

Food Crisis July 2016: “VIRTUALLY NO SMALL BUSINESSES WILL BE LEFT”

Sears Kmart July 2016: “WE ARE IN A BURNING BUILDING RIGHT NOW…”

Dumbing Down July 2016: “WE ARE GOING DOWN…”

JUNE 2016 : 76% CRASH IN FRIDGE SALES! NO MORE BIKES?

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!

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.”