Union head talks about Trane layoffs

Morale is down a little, but Greg Taylor said management at Trane is doing a good job working to ensure a smooth transition and making the best of a bad situation.

Taylor is the president of United  Auto Workers Local 716, the union that represents workers at Trane’s Fort Smith plant. The union as between 350-400 members, Taylor said.

The company announced Wednesday (Dec. 3) it is cutting 100 jobs at the plant effective Jan. 5.

“We hope that this gets us through the downturn, but the membership is a little fearful that we’ll have another round (of layoffs) before we see” economic recovery, Taylor said.

There is some talk that Trane officials expect demand for residential air-conditioning systems to return by mid-2009, Taylor said.

“But that’s hard to say, and they (Trane officials) can’t say for sure,” Taylor said. “The problem has been this year is that we had a lot of inventory and then people quit buying units. People are just tightening up on the money, and some people are repairing instead of buying a new unit.”

Taylor said Trane is abiding by the layoff terms of the contract approved in March. The contract expires March 2011.

He said the only complaints he gets from membership are related to the long lines and confusion in arranging unemployment benefits through the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services.