GE plant to lay off 21
Production at one GE plant has been cut by one-third this year.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
NILES — General Electric is laying off 21 workers at one of its Niles plants and temporarily closing the other.
The layoffs at the Mahoning Glass Plant are to begin Oct. 1 and are related to general slowdown in orders, said Janice Fraser, a GE spokeswoman.
The plant, which has 125 employees, produces glass that is used in floodlights and spotlights.
Company officials said they don’t see orders bouncing back to previous levels, said Dennis Hyda, shop steward of United Electrical Workers Local 751 at the plant. He added, however, that he hopes workers can be recalled at some point, especially because the plant has made glass for other companies.
GE is projecting that production at the Mahoning plant will fall from 91 million pieces last year to between 60 million and 65 million pieces this year, Hyda said. It produces glass for lights that are assembled out of two pieces.
Hyda said the order reduction is due partly to the emergence of compact fluorescent light bulbs, known as CFLs. Fraser said, however, that the energy-efficient bulbs have made only a small impact on the market for spotlights and floodlights so far.
Union leaders kicked off a campaign earlier this year that asked manufacturers to make CFLs in the U.S. so domestic plants aren’t phased out if incandescent bulbs fade away.
The pieces produced at the Mahoning plant are assembled at GE’s Ohio Lamp plant in Warren. Fraser said no cutbacks are planned at that plant, which has 370 workers, because the Mahoning plant has excess inventory.
Temporary closing
Hyda said union leaders were told in August that the plant adjacent to the Mahoning Plant, which is known as the Niles Glass Plant, will close temporarily in mid-October.
That plant makes glass for outdoor lights, such as streetlights, and employs 50. The closing is related to a lack of demand, Hyda said.
A reopening date hasn’t been announced, but Hyda said he hopes it is at the beginning of next year. Fraser said that plant is typically closed at the end of each year.
GE also employs 75 in Austintown, where it makes filaments for bulbs.
shilling@vindy.com