US Tyre Firms Announce Layoffs

The US tyre industry announced over 100 job losses today in both the manufacturing and retail segments. News reports suggest that Titan is to cut 80 jobs from its Freeport, Illinois plant in addition to taking on a six-weeks-on/two-weeks-off schedule, while Les Schwab Tire Centers’ distribution centre in Prineville, Oregon is set to shed 27 employees.

“There’s certainly a level of tentativeness about what the future holds in the short-term,” USW Local 745 President Steve Vanderheyden told Rockford’s WIFR-TV. “There’s been less construction companies willing to buy large mining rigs for example that would have our tires on them.”

“Two weeks of shut downs and then six weeks of work, that’s the plan,” Titan chairman and CEO Morry Taylor told the station. He also suggested that the Freeport plant could be further downsized in coming months.

Jodi Hueske, vice president of human resources at Les Schwab, told television reporters, “We’re selling fewer tyres, and that affects everyone. We’re loading fewer tyres on our trucks and hauling fewer tires to our stores.”

The cuts represent 4.5 per cent of the 600-plus employees at the facility, Hueske said.