ELJER PLUMBINGWARE Company announces plans to cut 200 jobs at Pa. plant

STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
FORD CITY, Pa. -- Eljer Plumbingware Inc., which announced plans last year to close its Salem, Ohio, plant, will also eliminate about 200 of the nearly 500 jobs at its Ford City, Pa. plant.
"It's very painful for us, but ultimately it's what we feel we need to do to remain competitive," Eljer spokesman Lee Harnish said Friday.
The restructuring must be negotiated with the United Steelworkers union, which represents workers.
The plant produces toilets and other plumbing equipment.
Eljer will discontinue production of home products at the Ford City plant and focus on products for the commercial market, Harnish said. The company hopes to complete the restructuring by September, he said.
Eljer has operated the plant since 1918, when it purchased a pottery factory built by PPG Industries founder John B. Ford, for whom the town was named.
Locally, United Steelworkers of America officials have said the Salem Eljer facility on South Ellsworth Avenue plant will close May 31, idling about 250 workers. USWA represents about 215 hourly workers there.
Jacuzzi Brands, the West Palm Beach, Fla.-based parent company of Eljer, has said it would shut down the Salem plant because the cost to manufacture products there had continued to climb, making continued operation economically unfeasible.
Jacuzzi Brands makes whirlpools, spas, sinks and related products.