Wednesday, February 1, 2012

The Walker Budget Is Already Working! Part LXVIII

The Scott Walker budget is really in full steam when businesses, big and small, are closing almost daily, laying off even more workers. Now, it's another 100 workers in Madison feeling the hit:
Sub-Zero said 100 workers at its Madison plant will lose their jobs by the end of June.

The privately owned company, which makes upscale refrigerators and stoves, sent a letter to state and city officials Tuesday saying it will close operations at 4717 Hammersley Road on June 29.

[...]

Tuesday's notice spelled out the details: Seventy-five Sub-Zero employees and 25 temporary workers will lose their jobs in three rounds of cuts, starting April 2. In the letter the company blamed "changing business circumstances" for its decision.

Goodspeed said the workers affected earn $22 an hour, or about $30 an hour, including benefits.

"Some of these workers — they're having a tough time dealing with this. These are good-paying jobs. They know similar pay and similar benefits are not waiting for them on the outside," he said.

Goodspeed said up to now, the union has helped 20 other workers from the Madison plant find jobs in Fitchburg, where about 300 employees make Sub-Zero built-in freezers and refrigerators and 200 produce Wolf ranges and cooktops. He said he hopes some of the remaining employees can also be shifted to Fitchburg.

Though they are not new, the job cuts are still hard to swallow, Goodspeed said, especially with concessions employees took in order to keep their work here. Bitterly fought contract agreements, reached over the past year and a half, cost union members 20 percent of their pay and benefits and froze wages for five years but promised to keep their jobs until at least 2018.
Did you notice that the unions have done more to keep people working in this one case than Walker did in the last year? Walker's not only corrupt, he's incompetent. And he needs to go.

1 comment:

  1. Now they can all be temporary workers at the other location ALONGSIDE all the other temporary workers already there!!!


    Wouldn't want to lower the wages of a certain few people there, now would we?

    ReplyDelete