A mass layoff announced last December at Carter Fuel Systems in Logansport is expected to happen starting in late August, the company announced Friday.
A union official at the fuel pump assembly plant announced in December 2016 that some 90 positions would be cut. That layoff has been on hold since then, a company statement issued June 23 indicated.
However, now the company is going forward with layoffs, saying 82 hourly positions will be lost in addition to some salaried positions. The company hasn't yet figured out how many salaried positions will be cut, according to the statement.
Carter Fuel currently employs 206 hourly workers and 57 salaried employees, a company spokesman said. That total of 263 workers is nearly on par with the 264 the company employed more than a year ago, according to tax abatement paperwork filed in May 2016 with the city of Logansport.
The company is working with United Steelworkers Local 4863 and the Indiana Department of Workforce Development during the transition, the company indicated in its statement.
"Despite this development, company leadership is confident that the manufacturing plant has a bright future delivering high quality fuel systems to our customers," the statement read in part.
The statement indicated the cuts were meant "to better meet the current business climate." Spokesmen for the company declined to elaborate on the reason for the layoffs.
The company is required to notify the state workforce agency at least 60 days in advance of a mass layoff under certain conditions. The notice the company has sent to the state indicates 52 base assembly and 13 base operator positions are being cut.
Six setup-material handling positions are also being cut, as well as three setup-operating positions, two each in material handling and quality assurance and one each of CNC setup and operation, maintenance (class A), quality assurance salvage relief and shipping and receiving clerk.
The cuts are expected to be permanent, according to the notice sent to the state.
Cuts are expected to start between Aug. 21 and Sept. 4, according to the notice, which a plant official provided to the Pharos-Tribune. The 82 affected employees are union members and have bumping rights, the notice indicated.
This is the second mass layoff Carter Fuel has carried out since being sold off by Federal Mogul in 2013.
Another layoff a little less than two years ago cut more than 100 positions.
Calls to local union President Dan Arnett and Logansport Mayor Dave Kitchell requesting comment were not immediately returned.