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Ford Plant Plans 760 Temporary Layoffs This Dec.

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Oct 16, 2008 6:57 pm US/Central

Ford Plant Plans 760 Temporary Layoffs This Dec.

(WCCO) The St. Paul Ford plant is temporarily laying off 760 workers.

The sales of Ford Ranger pickups were up 2.9 percent in August, but that number is down from last year.

Ford said in this tough economy people are simply buying fewer new trucks and they had no choice but to go ahead with the temporary layoffs.

There are roughly 800 people who work at the plant.

Workers are used to a Christmas work stoppage, but usually it's just a few weeks of paid time off. This year workers will not work or get paid for the entire month of December.

However, they will get health benefits.

"Does it take care of feeding your tummy, or providing something for your family or having Christmas presents for your kids, or your wife or your husband -- no it doesn't help that at all," said Roger Terveen, the President of Local UWA 879.

The union said St. Paul's Ford plant lost an order for 6,000 trucks when the economy went bust.

"Ford Motor Company continues to insure that it's production capacity is aligned with consumer demands," said Angie Kozleski, a spokesperson for Ford.

It's harder to get a car loan now too, but some financial experts said Ford has a bigger problem with its Ranger trucks -- the only truck made in St. Paul.

"It's not a particularly attractive vehicle, you combine that with Ford's situation and they're scrambling to save every penny they can," said George John, Chair of Marketing at Carlson School of Management. "It's not surprising that they're telling their folks, 'Hey, take a longer vacation than they would normally get."

The automotive business is just not a good business to be in right now. Last month, auto sales dropped 26 percent compared to a year ago and in 2008, more than 600 dealerships have closed nationwide.

Sonya Goins, Producer
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