Accuride to lay off about 140 workers at Elkhart plant

Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly

Accuride Corp. has issued layoff notices to nearly 140 workers in Elkhart after the Evansville-based company decided to relocate production work to plants in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Presently, the company employs about 210 hourly and 28 salaried workers at its Gunite division plant on County Road 15 in Elkhart.  Gunite makes wheel-end components for the heavy truck industry.

Eva Schmitz, director of communications for Accuride, said Thursday that layoff notices were issued to the salaried workers and 110 hourly workers. The layoffs are expected to begin in March.

Schmitz said the Elkhart plant machines and finishes components produced at Accuride's foundries in Brillion, Wis., and Rockford, Ill. Much of the machining and finishing work will be transferred to the two out-of-state facilities, resulting in an additional 125 jobs at the Brillion and Rockford foundries.

Schmitz said Elkhart employees who receive layoff notices will be able to apply for the new positions.

Accuride sent a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act letter to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development dated Jan. 12. The letter stated hourly workers are represented by Teamsters Local 364.

Schmitz said the layoffs and the relocation of production work are due to a drop in demand for wheel-end components for Class 8 trucks, which have a gross vehicle weight of more than 33,000 pounds.

"The Class 8 builds are down approximately 70 percent since their peak in 2006," Schmitz said.

Following the layoffs, production work will continue at the Elkhart plant, but on a smaller scale, she said.

Accuride filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October.