MOUNT VERNON — The end-of-year holiday season can be a mixed bag for many workers in the auto industry. Most of the major auto manufacturers shut down production during that time, which has a trickle-down effect on companies supplying parts to the auto industry. If production of automobiles is shut down or even curtailed, there is no need for parts.
For three local companies that supply auto parts, this also usually means layoffs or extended holidays. With the national economy down and the fate of a bailout of auto manufacturers in doubt, local holiday schedules or layoffs could be affected.
“I don’t have the specifics [for the Mount Vernon plant],” said John Wilkerson senior communications manager for TRW corporate headquarters. “But the general situation in the industry for most of the suppliers right now is that the customers are on extended shutdowns at various assembly locations, and the supply base is generally following suit by taking extended shutdown periods than usual.”
Wilkerson said plants are usually shut down the week of Christmas and New Year’s, with production resuming after the beginning of the year.
After checking specifics for the Mount Vernon plant, Wilkerson said less than half of the hourly employees were laid off the week of Dec. 15.
“We anticipate the rest of the hourly employees will all be on layoff by Dec. 22,” he added. “That’s a pretty typical shutdown period between Christmas and New Year’s.”
Wilkerson said call backs after the first of the year would be based on customer demand.
“Probably the first substantive group coming back would be starting the week of Jan. 12,” he said. “So that would extend about a week later than normal for most. The number of people and how many people come on depends on customer demand in January.”
The prospect of a bailout for the auto industry would probably not be a major factor in determining work schedules for the suppliers, according to Wilkerson.
“With the exception of the reaction we’ve seen, like for GM who said they were cutting 250,000 vehicles from what they were going to build in [the first quarter] and shutting down 20 plants, that can affect schedules at supplier plants,” Wilkerson explained. “It’s still based on all the different orders you get from the automakers how you schedule the plant and how many people are working. If you don’t have any demand for parts, it doesn’t make sense to be making them.”
Wilkerson said the Mount Vernon plant employs about 100 workers.
FT Precision in Fredericktown is an affiliate of Honda and is having a somewhat different experience for the holiday shut-down.
“We plan no layoffs at this time,” said Zane Mathys, executive vice president of FT Precision. “Our original plan was for our shutdown to be from the 24th [of December] through Jan. 5. So on the 22nd and 23rd we will do partial production days. Some lines are going to be doing production and some aren’t. For the most part it’s 50/50, which is fairly normal. It’s like everything, it’s hard to predict. We’re looking at some of the things Honda says they’ll be doing in the first three months of the year and we’re trying to apply that to how it’s going to affect us for the next three or four months.”
Mathys said the proposed auto bailout does not apply to Honda at this time, and will have little or no impact on FT Precision’ holiday schedule or production for the beginning of 2009. FT Precision employes 240.
Calls to Sanoh were not returned.
