YOUNGSTOWN 50 are laid off from Parker Hannifin plant

THE VINDICATOR, YOUNGSTOWN
The union wants answers about why workers are without jobs.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- Parker Hannifin Corp. has temporarily closed one of its Youngstown plants and laid off 50 workers.
The company's Salt Springs Road Industrial Park plant, which used to make hydraulic cylinders, shut down two weeks ago because all of its work has been sent to Parker plants in other states, said Matt Luc, president of United Steelworkers of America Local 2332.
The work was to be replaced with hydraulic pump production from a Parker plant in North Carolina, but that hasn't happened yet, Luc said. Workers are to be recalled when the new work arrives, he said.
The transition was supposed to be completed this month, but the first piece of equipment from North Carolina has just arrived and Parker officials now say the transition won't be done until July, he said.
"The time frame has gone way out of whack," he said.
Luc said union officials met with Parker officials Wednesday to express concern about the layoffs, which began early in the year and have grown since.
The union had been told that the transition would be made with minimal layoffs and all employees would have jobs once it was complete, he said.
To find jobs: He said company officials said they would try to find jobs for the laid-off workers and would meet again with the union in the middle of this month.
Jim Cartwright, a Parker spokesman, said he wasn't aware of the union's concerns and would have to check into them before commenting.
Parker acquired the Youngstown plants when it bought Commercial Intertech Corp. last year.
Cleveland-based Parker said in January that its pump-making business was growing and its North Carolina plant was out of room. That business is coming to Youngstown because Parker's Logan Avenue plant already has a foundry and other pump production lines.
Once the transition is complete, nearly all of the pump work will be done in the Salt Springs park, Luc said. Only the foundry, which has 70 workers, and a couple of small operations, employing about 10, will be on Logan Avenue, he said.
The rest of Parker's 320 hourly workers are to be at the Salt Springs plant. The plant employed 84 when it was making hydraulic cylinders.
Also, Parker just sold its metal stamping plant on Logan Avenue, which has 140 hourly workers. It is now known as Commercial Metal Forming.
shilling@vindy.com