Wheatland Tube lays off 85 hourly, salaried workers

The hourly workers might return, but the salaried employees are gone for good.
STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
WHEATLAND, Pa. -- Several dozen workers at Wheatland Tube Co. have been told they will be laid off effective Monday.
Vice President Bill Kerins said Thursday that 45 hourly workers from the plant in Wheatland and 10 from the Sharon plant will be laid off, along with about 30 salaried employees.
The salaried employees were let go permanently, while the hourly workers might be recalled if business improves, he said.
With the exception of a few jobs in Warren, Ohio, all the white-collar workers laid off were from Sharon and Wheatland.
Kerins put blame for the layoffs on surging pipe imports, especially from China.
"We're not seeing [government] relief from Chinese imports and we're not sitting around waiting for that relief," he said. "We've got to find ways to be more competitive. ... In a lot of areas we're overstaffed and we're not as productive as we should be."
The hourly employees laid off represent about 10 percent of Wheatland Tube's work force; the salaried employees let go made up about 20 percent, he said.
Buying Sharon Tube
Wheatland Tube's owner, The Carlyle Group, said last month it reached a deal to buy steel pipe producer Sharon Tube Co. The purchase didn't have a direct effect on the layoffs, Kerins said.
The company cut 80 jobs last spring and summer when it idled its pipe-making operations at its Sharon plant.
That was shortly after the company got a new owner. The Carlyle Group, a Washington, D.C.-based investment firm, bought John Maneely Co., the parent company of Wheatland Tube and a sister company in March of 2006.
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