Styrenics announces cuts
At least 60 jobs to be eliminated in next four monthsBy Sam Shawver
MARIETTA - Americas Styrenics (formerly Chevron Phillips Chemical Co.) will eliminate at least 60 jobs within the next four months at its facilities on Ohio 7 south of Marietta, according to information released by company officials Tuesday.
Ivin Rohrer, human resources manager at the Marietta facility, said the permanent layoffs are scheduled to begin the first of March and will continue in phases through the end of April.
"This is a difficult time for our company, emotions are running the gamut for everyone here," he said.
Americas Styrenics President and Chief Executive Officer Tim Roberts agreed in a company news release Tuesday afternoon.
"Decisions like this that affect the lives of our employees are difficult," he said. "However, our operations must reflect the current business environment. This move is designed to ensure the future success of the Marietta facility and of our business as a whole."
Rohrer said the job cuts were a result of a reconfiguration of assets at the Marietta site in which six of the plant's nine polystyrene production lines will be shut down.
"The polystyrene market has been shrinking over the last five years," he said.
"The six older lines we are shutting down each produce 50 million pounds of product a year, while the other three lines produce about 120 million pounds each per year," Rohrer said.
"So it comes down to less equipment for us to maintain and operate. We will be able to produce about 400 million pounds a year with the three remaining lines.
"And this reconfiguration will place us in a good position for the long term," Rohrer said.
The layoffs will include members of United Steelworkers Local 14200-1, as well as salaried employees, according to union president Mark Wurtzbacher, who said the cutback was announced to employees Tuesday morning.
"But I understand the decision was made by corporate in late December," he said. "There are currently 103 union employees, but after the layoff there will only be about 27 salaried and 48 union workers left."
Wurtzbacher said all of the union members being laid off had been hired after April 1996.
The Marietta plant, the largest of Americas Styrenics' six facilities across the U.S., is also the only plant that has union representation, and no layoffs have been announced at the other facilities.
Rohrer said the reconfiguration was driven by the need for asset reduction and was not in any way related to the employment of union workers.
He said a severance package that includes two weeks pay for every year worked, six months' medical coverage and $5,000 toward educational and retraining benefits would be offered to the furloughed employees.
Wurtzbacher, who will be among the laid-off workers, said the union is trying to provide as much opportunity as possible for members whose jobs will be cut.
"You have to do what you have to do. But everyone's aware of what the current economy is like," he said. "Everybody seems to be cutting back and bracing for what may lie ahead.
"I hate to see this, but I do hope that this will be the end of layoffs for the Ohio Valley," Wurtzbacher said.
Headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, Americas Styrenics LLC is a leading integrated producer of polystyrene and styrene monomer in a variety of markets throughout the Americas. It is a joint venture equally owned by The Dow Chemical Company and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP.
According to Tuesday's news release, the company has not ruled out the possibility of more layoffs in the future, saying that Americas Styrenics must continually consider structural changes and other opportunities to improve profitability as market conditions change in order to remain competitive.
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Onemanssacrifice
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01-07-09 4:58 PM
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Up until even December, the workers were told that new people were being hired, jobs were posted for internal application, even that the plant was in the black and actually made money in November or December (not sure which). To me, that's deceptive business practice. You let the workers assume everything is okay then drop the bomb at the beginning of the year. At least give them a little more heads up than 60 days so they can get their affairs in order or look for other work. The upper management is playing with people's lives and they don't seem to care. I'm sorry but a severance package and a promise to pay up to $5,000 in retraining doesn't help when the bank is taking your home or when your children need clothes or food.
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seasons
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01-07-09 1:54 PM
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Marietta Plant hasn't made money for years. When it was just Chevron , the plant stayed open on the parent company pocketbook. When the merge was made between Chevron and Phillips , again Marietta plant lost money . The plant has been poorly managed and was top heavy . The plant may survive for a while but I expect that line 14 will be tore down and moved to another Dow plant and the Marietta plant will be history . How can you run a plant at such high costs and expect to run . Once again poor management and top heavy salaries finally caught up with them .
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Onemanssacrifice
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01-07-09 1:03 PM
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This affects more than just the employees and their families. This affects the entire area. Less wages, less money to spend in local establishments. I believe that cutting the work force was in the plan from the time the two companies decided on the joint venture. Getting St James and the market share was Dow's goal, in my opinion. The Marietta plant is just an innocent bystander. I foresee the plant being shut down by the end of 2010 when the current labor contract expires.
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