Altec in Jeffersonville to lay off 60 employees, one-third of work force

By DAVID A. MANN, Evening News
David.Mann@newsandtribune.com

Altec - manufacturer of aluminum tubing, pipes, rods and other products - will lay off one-third of the work force at its Jeffersonville plant.

About 45 production workers, four maintenance workers, three office workers and eight supervisors - a total of 60 employees - will be laid off between July 24 and Aug. 7.

Company officials were called several times, beginning Thursday morning, but did not return calls. The information comes from Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications, often called WARN notices, filed with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. In the notice, the company cited "economic reasons" as the need for the layoffs.

Altec does aluminum extruding, which is the process of shaping metal.

Its products are used in furniture, office products, ladders, sports equipment, light fixtures, signs, truck trailers, recreational vehicles and automobiles, according to its Web site.

The RV and auto industries have been hit hard in the current economic climate.

Sean McAlinden, chief economist with the Michigan-based Center for Automotive Research, said suppliers - especially those with more than 40 percent of their production going to the auto industry - are feeling the pinch.

It's unclear how much of Altec's production is devoted to auto industry supplies.

Matters will likely get worse Monday when General Motors files for bankruptcy and 14 plants announce closures, McAlinden said.

He said aluminum product manufacturers likely would bounce back in the long run, however, as lighter materials are in demand from automakers looking to make more fuel-efficient vehicles.