Danville Goodyear layoffs begin in March

United Steelworkers Local 831 approved an agreement Thursday with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. that would put the Danville plant on eight-hour work shifts, five days a week, and offer 200 buyouts to qualified employees.

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Of a total of 1,559 votes, 1,401 voted in favor of the agreement, and 158 voted against it.

“In excess of 400” Goodyear employees will be losing their jobs between buyouts and layoffs, Goodyear Communications Director Jo Andrews said Friday.

More than 2,400 people work at the plant, and it is Danville’s largest employer.

According to a letter to employees obtained by the Danville Register & Bee, the truck side of the plant will be realigned to three, eight-hour shifts, five days a week. Currently, the plant operates seven days a week, 24 hours per day, on 12-hour shifts.

In addition, the furlough that had been postponed from Feb. 21-28 has been rescheduled to March 21-28. There will be another furlough Aug. 3-9.

The new operating schedule will start when employees return to work after the March furlough.

The earliest layoffs will not be effective until March 23.

The agreement includes a “Danville only” fund for laid-off production

employees. Laid-off employees will be eligible to receive $100 per week for up to two years, or until the fund runs out, under the agreement.

As previously reported, the buyout package offers $2,000 per year, up to $40,000, to employees between the ages of 53 and 55 with at least 28 years of service at the plant.

Employees who want the buyout must apply by March 5.

Salaried employees are not eligible for buyouts, but salaried positions will be cut, company officials said. Those employees will be eligible for the Supplemental Compensation Benefit Plan. Salaried position cuts will be announced by March 20.

Laurie Moran, president of the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce, said any job loss has an impact on the economic climate.

“Whenever there are layoffs in our community, there is always a multiplier effect on other businesses,” she said.

Both Danville and Pittsylvania County economic development offices have been working on training programs and employment programs, “and are committed to assisting the affected employees with their employment and training needs,” Moran said in a written statement.

Andrews pointed out that even with the job cuts, Goodyear is still probably the largest employer in Danville.

“The technology we’re putting into the plant to emerge from these challenging times, hopefully will position us better (in the future),” she said.

But for now, Andrews added, “no matter how you slice it, it’s not looking good.”

• Contact Sarah Arkin at sarkin@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7983.