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IAC announces 202 layoffs in Greencastle

Wednesday, September 15, 2010
By JARED JERNAGAN, Assistant Editor

GREENCASTLE -- A local auto supplier has notified the state of its plans to lay off 202 workers.

In a letter dated Aug. 7 from International Automotive Components (IAC) Human Resources Manager Paula Miller, the company informed the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, UAW officials and Greencastle Mayor Sue Murray of the company's plans.

The layoffs will commence on approximately Nov. 10, with additional layoffs scheduled around Dec. 13.

The plant currently employs just over 550 employees at the Greencastle facility. The layoffs will leave approximately 350.

IAC Director of Marketing and Communications David Ladd said the two lines being eliminated are going through what is known as a "build-out."

"The (Greencastle) plant makes a lot of interior door systems in vehicles, and two of those particular programs are just ramping down," Ladd said. "On one of them, we simply weren't sourced for the next generation of that particular door, and the other is moving to another IAC plant.

"That just leaves us with lines that are not operating, so what we need to do is fill those lines with new business," he added.

The 202 affected positions include 185 operators, eight relief operators, three janitors, three fork truck operators, one cell leader, one die setter and one process tech.

While IAC considers the layoffs permanent, the company remains hopeful about the future prospects of the plant.

"The silver lining on the cloud is that we are going to be retooling for a big program coming in," Ladd said. "The problem is, it's going to take time to get retooled and get set up for that new program. In the meantime, we don't have anything for those employees to produce.

"We're hopeful that we'll be able to recall those employees," he said. "I don't have an exact timeframe on that, but it's early 2011."

IAC last had to lay off employees in May 2009, just after General Motors and Chrysler announced widespread plant closures. Since then, the Greencastle plant has recalled all the laid off employees.

The United Auto Workers Region 3 Director's Office had no comment on the layoffs.

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  • The door lines are the Ford Explorer, now being manufactured in Chicago. As a part of Fords plan to save on manufacturing they will now build that particular door line themselves. The line moving to another plant is the Rs line, (Chrysler town & country). The reason it is being moved is due to the fact that the quality is lacking in the Greencastle plant. In other words, the employees lost the line due to negligence on their part. So the loss of jobs has been coming for along time, the employee's play around, don't pay attention to details, packed poor quality to be shipped to Chrysler and the quality dept. would just stamp the racks so that they could go back to the quality dept and set in the office or go outside to smoke with friends.

    -- Posted by BTruth1958 on Wed, Sep 15, 2010, at 7:54 AM

  • First of all BTruth1958 . The door line going to another plant is not the RS line it's the RT line. The RS line has been out for years. It's not leaving soley on a quality issue ! Yes, we have quality issues but that is not the only reason and I'm not going to go into details but you really don't know what your talking about.

    -- Posted by knowthetruth11 on Wed, Sep 15, 2010, at 10:42 AM

  • Yes I do know what I am talking about, I have been there 16 years, sure I forgot that its the RT line, and yes it is quality issues! If the lazy people on the line would have paid as much attention to what they were doing as much as the talking, running to the restroom to smoke, and if the quality people weren't too busy trying to get out of work or trying to hook up with someone, just maybe this line wouldn't have had to move. Granted not everyone has been like that, just the majority. I have seen it all, so don't delude yourself into thinking its all upper management. Greencastle IAC employees lost this business, and they have lost alot of other business too.

    -- Posted by BTruth1958 on Thu, Sep 16, 2010, at 9:39 AM
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