Wheatland Tube Co. is recalling 140 of 170 laid-off employees

STAFF REPORT

WHEATLAND, Pa. — Wheatland Tube Co. is recalling 140 of 170 temporarily laid-off workers.

Company President Bill Kerins said those workers are to come back Monday.

They had been laid off for a week because of the economic slowdown, he said.

The pipe and tube manufacturer also laid off 17 workers at its Sharon plant and 16 at its Warren operation.

Kerins said those workers will not be called back this week.

Kerins said the workers who are still laid off will likely return sometime during the first quarter of next year.

Mike Munger, president of United Steelworkers Local 1660, said the layoffs, out of 435 plant workers, are mainly of laborers who make a little more than $19 an hour.

He said unemployment benefits for them will average $539 a week, and with supplementary employee benefits through the company, their pay would be between $600 and $700 a week.

Munger said health benefits are a problem for employees who have been with the company less than two years.

Those employees will have to pay for their own benefits, he said.