High Employee Costs Driving Plant Closure, Says Titan’s Taylor

According to an article published on the website of Rockford, Illinois based CBS television affiliate WIFR, Titan Tire has commented that “when the fall hit, things sort of ground to a halt.” The market downturn caught up with the company late last year, and the company responded by laying off 83 employees, about 14 per cent of the workforce at its Freeport, Illinois plant. Titan at this time also instigated a six-week on/two-week off operating schedule.

“There’s certainly a level of tentativeness about what the future holds in the short-term,” Local Union No. 745 president Steve Vanderheyden told WIFR. He added that Titan’s three main industries – agriculture, construction and mining – all reduced orders late last year because of their own economic setbacks. “There’s been less construction companies willing to buy large mining rigs, for example, that would have our tyres on them,” he said.

Titan’s chairman and CEO says temporary shutdowns such as those already seen at vehicle manufacturing plants should be expected. “Two weeks of shut downs and then six weeks of work, that’s the plan,” said Maurice M. Taylor Junior. According to Taylor, high employee costs at the Freeport plant – the most expensive of the three factories Titan operates – are driving these closures. He indicates the first of the shutdowns could commence in mid-January, as the current employee contract allows for such temporary actions. Further changes, including downsizing the facility, could also take place before the end of the contract in November 2010, Taylor added.