IAC lays off in Greencastle

Friday, May 1, 2009

The recent announcement of shutdowns at GM plants and Chrysler's filing for bankruptcy Thursday have had a major impact on one Greencastle plant this week.

International Automotive Components (IAC), already in the midst of a workforce reduction due to the GM situation, notified employees of further layoffs on Friday following Chrysler's announcement.

"Usually suppliers are notified by customers in advance, and that didn't happen yesterday," IAC director of marking and communications David Ladd told the Banner Graphic. "It's not been even 24 hours yet since we found out, and we're still trying to ascertain what actions we have to take."

Ladd, dealing with layoffs across the corporation, had no exact numbers or details on Greencastle's particular situation.

"I really don't know from one plant to the next what we are doing, but we're doing something at all our plants. Some of that action will be temporary, as long as the shutdown is going on, and others might be more permanent. I don't have any of that information," Ladd said.

"I know that in Greencastle we were already in the middle of a workforce reduction when this news broke from Chrysler yesterday," he added. "There were numbers that would have been legitimate yesterday, and they're no longer legitimate because we're going to have to rethink the whole thing. And that was a result of last week's announcement by GM that they were shutting down for 90 days over the summer."

For their part, officials at the Greencastle plant were not able to speak on the issue, aside from the company's official statement, which read in full, "The unprecedented actions of General Motors plant shutdowns and Chrysler's chapter 11 shutdowns are impacting the supply industry across North America. IAC, like all other suppliers to GM and Chrysler, will be required to make dramatic adjustments in production volume and corresponding employment levels."

Ladd, who admitted the situation with Chrysler had the company's "heads spinning," said the exact impact on the entire IAC corporation, as well as Greencastle's plant, remains uncertain.

"I'm trying to find out as we speak how many employees are being impacted in Greencastle. We're taking this kind of action across the country," Ladd said. "We have many more plants and every one will be impacted, some to a greater degree than others, because Chrysler and GM are our two largest customers. They're certainly not our only customers, but they do represent a lot of our production capacity."

What is certain is the continued struggles of the auto industry are hurting a lot of companies and even more people.

"It's just been one blow after another and it's really bringing many of the suppliers in the industry to their knees," Ladd said.

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  • On Wed, April 29,2009 IAC laid off 51 people or at least that is the number the employees were told then. Then tonight, Fri May 1, 2009, they laid off another 236 people, leaving approximately 236 hourly employees. The employees were told that the Greencastle plant has 51% of their product purchased by Chrysler and that is the reason for this latest layoff. All 287 people laid off this week were told that this is an indefinite layoff.

    -- Posted by Copper1 on Fri, May 1, 2009, at 10:53 PM
  • My heart goes out to all those who have lost their jobs!

    -- Posted by indianaresident on Sat, May 2, 2009, at 6:10 AM
  • Isn't great to have ALL the eggs in the automotive egg basket??

    -- Posted by indy_500 on Sat, May 2, 2009, at 6:18 AM
  • Uh, massagemiracle, Greencastle IAC DOES have GM business. That was supposed to be one of the reasons that the first 51 were laid off on Wed.

    -- Posted by Copper1 on Sat, May 2, 2009, at 1:16 PM
  • GM was about 5% of our business and Chrysler, like massagemiracle mentioned, is 51%. And no, we won't still have to pay dues!

    -- Posted by crazyfrog21 on Sun, May 3, 2009, at 12:57 PM
  • This is what happens when you people buy foreign, ie: Honda, toyota, etc...... our workers get the shaft.........These foreign cars rust out just as soon as the AMERICAN ones......................as for mileage? sheesh......I would go 15 miles to help an American car company.or more..........Quit buying foreign crapola. Keep the US workers goin!!!! If we would quit buying the foreign crapola in the stores (the biggie...Dollar Tree) we could have pride and keep our people working!!!

    -- Posted by sad_but_true on Sun, May 3, 2009, at 7:59 PM
  • I worked at IAC, was laid off Friday......we were 51% Chrysler, 40% Ford, 9% Toyota, 0% GM the last I knew!

    -- Posted by 3centsworth on Mon, May 4, 2009, at 12:44 AM
  • sad_but_true...when US automakers start making a US car like my 2000 Honda Accord with 250,000+ miles that will still run after the last payment; and when US automakers make a US pickup like my 2000 Toyota Tacoma with 230,000+ miles that will not need to be towed from I-70 like the many seen each week at the side of the road, then I'll go BACK to buying US cars.

    -- Posted by Flyer726 on Mon, May 4, 2009, at 5:43 AM
  • My husband and I own a chev suburban and ford exployer we have paid off. Instead of buying new we opted to spend 2800.00 in repairs on a 97 and 98 vechicles so as to not have any payments with the shape of our ecomony.I believe a lot of folks are hanging on to what they have. We have never bought foreign cars and if we did need to purchase with the way things are we would buy used American made.Job security is a problem for everyone.

    -- Posted by peace2019 on Mon, May 4, 2009, at 8:46 AM
  • 3centsworth, all the parts in the 40% and 60% totes went to GM. Press 107 was almost always on GM parts. GM was only 4-5% of the business, but they were there. Well before last Wednesday anyway! ;-)

    -- Posted by Copper1 on Mon, May 4, 2009, at 5:34 PM
  • Recent layoffs there and everywhere are not due to buying foreign cars but because of past administrations stupid war and economics.

    -- Posted by Jclody on Fri, May 8, 2009, at 9:48 AM
  • The great debate is what effects has the war had on our economy.....I think the US has spent something like 750 billion or more on the war effort...money that could have been spent closer to home .....but it has nothing to do with the mess we are in now...yeah, right.

    -- Posted by citizenoftheworld on Fri, May 8, 2009, at 12:56 PM
  • Hey, smaller_gov_now evidently you must have worked at IAC to know all that, so you must have been 1 of thugs at 1 time or another and yes, we did have alot of worthless people that worked there & didn't deserve even $5. an hour you must have been 1 of them, RIGHT???

    -- Posted by 3centsworth on Sun, May 10, 2009, at 8:34 AM
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