Belvidere assembly plant trimming third shift as Chrysler profits slump
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| Workers at the DaimlerChrysler assembly plant in Belvidere are reporting that the company will lay off 80 workers from its third shift. The third shift at the plant was launched in July. |
BELVIDERE — DaimlerChrysler is laying off about 80 of the two-year contract workers from the third shift of its Belvidere assembly plant, workers are reporting.
The news came out the same day DaimlerChrysler reported the Chrysler Group will make additional production cuts in the third and fourth quarters after the group lost $1.52 billion in the third quarter, double what was anticipated.
The company attributed the losses to “excess inventory, noncompetitive legacy costs for employees and retirees, continuing high fuel prices and a stronger shift in demand toward smaller vehicles” in a news release.
The shift toward smaller cars would appear to mean jobs at the Belvidere operation are safe. Workers there are building the Dodge Caliber and the Jeep Compass, the company’s new small car and small SUV offerings that feature gas mileages around 30 mpg. The backlog in orders for the two models was more than 90,000 on Sept. 1.
But Michelle Tinson, DaimlerChrysler spokeswoman, said none of the assembly plants is safe.
“Any plant can face production cuts, it’s a result of market demand,” Tinson said in an e-mail. “We do not predict the future.”
According to third-shift worker James Doser and verified by other workers, DaimlerChrysler already is adjusting the work force in Belvidere. The 56-year-old UAW member who started at the plant in April as a temporary employee said Local 1268 representatives informed workers Friday morning DaimlerChrysler intends to lay off 80 of the temporary workers.
“Basically, what they’re doing is they’re going to fire anybody that they possibly have anything on — fire them and lay the rest off,” Doser said.
The plant employed about 1,600 workers on one shift when the year started. In March, after the successful launch of the Caliber, the company brought back a second shift of 1,000 workers and manned it largely with transfers from operations inIndianapolis and Huntsville, Ala. In July, the company launched a third shift at the 3.9 million-square-foot plant for the first time in its history, boosting payroll to more than 3,600. The shift, though, is made up largely of workers on two-year contracts, receiving lower pay, fewer benefits and with contract language giving the company the right to terminate the contract at any time based on demand.
Neither Tinson nor Local 1268 President Tom Littlejohn would confirm the reduction.
Early Friday morning, the Stuttgart-based company lowered its operating profit forecast for the full year to about $6.34 billion, based on an expected full-year loss for the Chrysler Group of $1.27 billion.
The parent company said it was examining several possibilities to improve the earnings situation of the Chrysler Group “as quickly, comprehensively and sustainably as possible.”
It said these include ways to boost sales and cut costs as well as making structural changes.
Springfield Bureau chief Aaron Chambers and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Assistant Business Editor Alex Gary may be reached at 815-987-1339 or at agary@rrstar.com.
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