More Layoffs at Nat'l Steelcar

[the dude]

Naomi Powell
The Hamilton Spectator
(May 1, 2008)

National Steel Car workers will face another round of layoffs as the railcar maker struggles against sluggish demand from customers.

Though no final decisions have yet been made, union leader Gary Pedron said about 90 layoffs are expected.

"It could be less or more, we're not sure until the final count comes in," he said.

National Steel Car, which designs and manufactures rail freight cars, has faced a "widespread soft market" for nearly two years now, said company spokesperson Peter Earle.

"When economies across the U.S. and Canada slow down, our business slows down," he said.

The company is still reviewing the timing of the layoffs and the number of workers affected, he added.

National Steel Car cut about 600 hourly jobs in 2007 but later rehired about 400 of those workers. It now employs about 1,300 workers.

Last summer, the firm announced plans to expand, building a $350-million plant in Alabama.

At the time, company officials said the move south was expected to provide a natural hedge against the high Canadian dollar, while bringing the firm closer to its U.S. customer base.

But Pedron says he's concerned lower costs at the new plant, called National Alabama, could eventually result in a downsizing or shutdown of Steel Car's Hamilton operations.

"There's no two ways about it, I'm definitely concerned about how that plant opening will affect our workplace," he said.

Though "costs are always a concern," Earle said the company had no plans to downsize or lay off Hamilton workers once the Alabama plant is up and running later this year.

"The vision is to serve the North American marketplace with both facilities," he said. "What we're going to try to do is utilize the strength of both facilities to do their best work. That doesn't mean the diminishing of Hamilton."

perhaps with a slight trend towards rail transport, a few of these jobs can be saved...or perhaps not.