By Kirk Johannesen, Boris Ladwig, Paul Minnis and Brenda Showalter, The Republic
editorial@therepublic.com
Columbus Components Group has notified employees and the city that it plans to lay off more than 100 workers and possibly could close the plant because customers have withdrawn their orders.
However, a union official said he believes that the company is not telling the whole story and that clients are withdrawing their orders because the company has raised its prices.
The news comes a month after International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1424 voted to accept wage cuts and changes to benefits after CCG management said the plant would close unless concession were made.
The union at CCG is fighting back, filing Wednesday a charge against the company with the National Labor Relations Board that claims the company bargained in bad faith.
Company President Richard Holmes wrote in a letter to employees and Mayor Fred Armstrong
that CCG had been told by clients that they were withdrawing their orders, which would result in a "significant decrease in anticipated sales volumes due to factors beyond the company's control."
Holmes wrote that the company was still analyzing the turn of events but layoffs would occur during the two-week period beginning April 9.
"The duration of the layoffs are unknown at this time and will affect both union and non-union positions within the plant. Based upon information currently available, the layoffs will affect approximately 135 employees," Holmes stated.
CCG stamps parts for auto companies, including Cummins Inc., EMCON Technologies and TRW Automotive.
Non-union workers received a copy of the letter Tuesday, and union workers had meetings with the company Wednesday.
Jerry Wagner, business manager for IBEW Local 1424, said that the company is losing clients partially because of the bad economy - but also because of bad management.
The company in recent weeks has abandoned profitable light-duty automotive work to focus almost exclusively on heavy-duty automotive work, Wagner said.
The union does not agree with that strategy, he said.
A year ago, the plant employed more than 400, Wagner said, and after the cuts, about 60 union members will be left. The plant also employs nonunion workers and office staff.
Also, Wagner said he was displeased with company leaders' insinuations that the company plans to continue to operate, when, day after day, trucks are removing machinery from the plant.
Wagner said he could not understand how company leaders can say that workers might be called back if the plant is devoid of machines.
Wagner also said that despite concessions to which workers agreed in February, which have saved the company more than $1 million, the company is not doing its best to keep the plant open.
"We're not giving up," Wagner said. "We're doing everything we can to keep it open."
The Republic's repeated attempts to reach company officials by phone or on the premises have been unsuccessful.
Warning
On Feb. 11, CCG filed with Indiana Department of Workforce Development a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice.
A WARN notice is filed when a company is going to lay off employees, said Valerie Kroeger, assistant communications director with IDWD.
CCG said it faced closing the plant if it could not renegotiate its contract with the union.
Union workers with IBEW Local 1424 voted on Feb. 17 to accept 5-percent wage cuts and changes to insurance premiums and retirement contributions.
CCG laid off 25 hourly workers and terminated 12 office workers in early March.
CCG on Wednesday filed another WARN notice with IDWD.
In its complaint with NLRB, the union charges that since early February CCG has engaged in bad-faith bargaining when it failed to recall a WARN notice and continued to reduce "bargaining unit employees" despite an agreement to recall the notice if wage and benefit concessions were made.
The NLRB next will send CCG a copy of the charge, and then seek information and evidence from both parties to determine if there is evidence of violation, and further adjudication is warranted, said Pat Nachand, assistant to the director of National Labor Relations Board Region 25, located in Indianapolis.
CCG has applied with the city of Columbus for one tax abatement since it purchased the company from ArvinMeritor.
The city granted the abatement in 2007, starting a process that is phasing in CCG's property taxes over 10 years on $600,000 worth of machinery.
CCG submitted paperwork to the city in 2008 that said the company's promise to hire 25 new employees had been met, according to Jim Clouse of the city Community Development office.
Clouse said abatements are issued based on City Council's Incentive Review Committee's recommendation to the City Council. The entities look only at companies' history of paying taxes and its fulfillment of the terms of prior abatements given.
Armstrong said he did not know about the new layoffs and the possibility of CCG closing until he received a letter from the company's president Wednesday.
Armstrong said he had heard rumors, but management did not return his calls.
"They really haven't worked with us," Armstrong said. "I tried to call three times to no avail."
In February, a company controller came to the mayor's office to discuss the situation, but that person has been laid off, Armstrong said.
"Those are really, really good workers over there, and it's a shame they are having to go through this," the mayor said.