Hammond company plans to lay off 69

BY ANDREA HOLECEK, Times of Northwest Indiana

holecek@nwitimes.com

HAMMOND | AFS-Keystone Inc., which produces steel springs used in industrial, agricultural and railroad equipment, plans to permanently layoff more than half of its workers in April, state filings show.

The company at 4811 Hohman Ave. sent a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice (WARN) to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development Feb. 6, stating it will lay off 69 hourly employees represented by United Steelworkers Local 2003 starting April 8.

Another five of the plant's employees, who all are salaried, will lose their jobs starting April 11, the notice states.

"The action is due to the unforeseeable business circumstances regarding the drastic downturn in the national economy which has affected our business," the WARN notice states. "As a result, employees will be permanently laid off."

Mike Millsap Jr., coordinator for Local 2003, said the union is meeting with the company to determine if jobs can be saved. The amalgamated local represents about 1,200 hourly workers in a variety of industries.

"The major discussion is the cut-backs and who is qualified to operate each machine," he said, adding that according to the union contract, layoffs must be based on seniority and qualifications.

The plant currently is operating on three shifts and plans to go to one following the layoffs.

"We're meeting with the company on what machines will operate and how many employees will be needed," Millsap said.

Larry Moore, the company's human resources manager, said there doesn't appear to be any hope that business will change for the better in the near future.

"The workload we had has been cut in half," Moore said. "We were hit in both (railroad and industrial) areas."

The company listed the layoffs as permanent, which means they would be expected to last more than six months, Moore said.

"We'll know the exact number (of cuts) before April 7," Moore said.

AFS-Keystone is a subsidiary of Amsted Rail, which is a division of Chicago-based Amsted Industries.