Timothy O'Connor, For The News-Dispatch
LA PORTE - About 87 people have been laid off at New York Blower since October, according to employees at the plant.
According to Shane McClintock, chief union steward and representative for Teamsters Local 135, most of the layoffs have been union employees. He said 215 union employees worked at the plant last fall. With more firings expected Friday, the number will be down to about 127.
New York Blower, which has been in business 119 years, manufactures industrial air-moving equipment.
He said the company, which has four plants in La Porte, had upwards of 250 union and salaried employees before the layoffs began.
Randy Blank, who has worked at the company since 1973, said this is the first large-scale layoff he's seen there. The plant once employed 402 people back in 1996, but the company has slowly subtracted its workforce during the years. Blank said layoffs have become more frequent, with another round of cuts every few weeks.
The layoffs began around October, shortly before Teamsters Local 135 entered into a new agreement with New York Blower. The agreement provided union members with a comprehensive health benefit plan, a retirement program and an increase in wages.
Adam Swarthout, another employee and union member at the plant, said the union filed a grievance against New York Blower prior to the renegotiation because of work being duplicated in another non-union plant. He said the union was told to drop the grievance or there would be no new contract.
Since then, almost 90 union members have lost their jobs as the plant downsized due to dwindling demand for product.
Blank said the company will close one of its four La Porte plants in the coming weeks.
When asked about the layoffs, Glen Todd, New York Blower's human resources manager, refused comment and said, "I don't have time to talk to you" before hanging up.
Calls to New York Blower's corporate office in Willowbrook, Ill., and local representative Bob Korfmann were not returned.
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