Manitowoc Cranes laying off 300 workers

About 300 Manitowoc Cranes workers will be laid off over the next two weeks, with recalls set for Oct. 24, a union steward said Friday.

Scott Rosinsky, a Machinists Union worker at the South 30th Street plant for 21 years, said he might be safe from layoff.

However, he was told by a Boilermakers union official that Friday was the last day for 189 welders.

Combined with layoffs from Machinists and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Rosinky said as many as 80 percent of Manitowoc Cranes production workers may be off the job for four to six weeks.

Rosinsky said he wonders why such a high percentage of...

union employees have or will be laid off, but he is not aware of any temporary job losses among management personnel.

Earlier this month, Tom Musial, Manitowoc Company's senior vice president for Human Resources-Administration, said management expected a change in the "build schedule" at Manitowoc Cranes due to a "softness in the economy."

Musial said Cranes management had met with employees to discuss current economic conditions facing the company. On Sept. 1, he said he did not know how many workers might be laid off.

Musial was not available for comment Friday.

Also facing layoffs are several members of a clerks union, including Jeff Kohlbeck, who said his layoff begins Sept. 16.

Kohlbeck said Cranes management met with union members on various shifts Aug. 29.

"Everybody seems to think this might be an extended layoff," Kohlbeck said. "They (management) hit us pretty hard, and this came all of a sudden." He intends to spend some of the five weeks off hunting and fishing.

Rosinsky said several factors influence who is laid off, including seniority and work location within the plant.

He said some sections have been especially affected, and he knows of one machinist with more than 35 years of service at Cranes who is going to be drawing unemployment for the next several weeks.

The Machinists contract with Manitowoc Cranes expires Nov. 1. Rosinsky said any union members still on layoff would not be eligible to vote on a new agreement.

The Manitowoc Company, with Crane and Foodservice operating groups, employs 12,600 worldwide, including 1,400 in Wisconsin. About 800 produce cranes.

In July, company officials reported second-quarter sales of $949 million, up 15.9 percent from the second quarter of 2010, with the increase primarily due to a 22.9 percent increase in Crane segment sales.

Source: Charlie Mathews, Herald Times