Daimler Announces Additional Layoffs at Truck Plants
Daimler Trucks North America announced another round of layoffs that includes about 700 workers from its medium-duty plant in Mount Holly, North Carolina, and an additional 500 at its Class 8 plant in Cleveland, North Carolina.
The reduction at the Cleveland facility, which makes the Freightliner and Western Star brands, follows layoffs in January affecting about 936 employees there.
The workforce adjustment is “due to a sustained reduction in orders and a diminished build rate and it is considered temporary,” David Giroux, DTNA’s director of corporate communications, said in a statement.
Giroux said the reductions are effective April 16, but the affected employees’ last day of work is Feb. 19 as the company anticipates a softer truck market ahead, with the “North American truck market Class 6 to 8 to be down around 10% in 2016.”
According to the statement, “Employees will receive payment in lieu of the notice period at each employee’s regular rate of pay, and employees are free to seek and accept other employment during the notice period without jeopardizing their entitlement to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification period payment or benefits.”
DTNA’s decision follows Volvo Group’s similar one late last year for both its U.S. truck makers, Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks. That action also was intended to match production with expected market declines this year. Other truck makers have not responded to inquiries about the possibility of additional layoffs.
