Michelin brings back Oklahoma employees, but not contract workers

ERJ staff report (TB)

Ardmore, Oklahom -- Michelin North America Inc. has ended a temporary shutdown at its Ardmore plant that laid off 240 employees for eight weeks, but 110 contract workers have yet to return.

Employees of Holland Group, a Murfreesboro, Tennessee-based firm that outsources manufacturing services, were among those who volunteered for the temporary layoffs Michelin initiated in November due to soft demand for passenger and light truck tyres.

In a Jan. 16 statement, Michelin noted that the company traditionally uses contractors as an additional workforce when production demands are above the capabilities of its employees, but demand has been suffering.

“These are challenging economic times and we are sensitive to the needs of our employees, as well as contractors and other vendors,” the company said. “In difficult times like these, we prioritise Michelin employees.”

Michelin said the future use of contractors at the Ardmore plant will be dependent on market demand “after we have fully utilised the capabilities of our existing employees.”

Pat Wise, Holland Group's division manager for the Ardmore plant, said the company was under the impression the contract workers would also return at the end of the temporary layoff period. She said Michelin has since told them that it may begin to recruit workers back in March.

“They anticipate that we are going to be going back in the second quarter, but again that's dependent on the economy,” Ms. Wise said.

She added the company “has been working diligently” to outplace contract workers into new positions, but a lot of them will probably remain unemployed for the time being. However, she said the layoffs are not contract related and the company expects to maintain its “long standing relationship with Michelin.”

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)