Employees report 100-plus workers laid off at Tower Automotive

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

Thursday, April 28, 2011, 11:45 p.m. — Facebook and other websites quickly reported the latest local employment news Thursday — a Bardstown automotive supplier has laid off more than 100 of its production employees.

Numerous sources have reported more than 100 Tower Automotive production workers were told Thursday they were going to be laid off. The number of employees affected by the layoff has been said to be as high as 150. Some reports state that workers were told the layoff period could be as long as six months in length.

Tower Automotive’s Bardstown plant makes parts for Toyota, Nissan and Volkswagen manufacturing plants in the U.S., with most of its production devoted to Toyota. Toyota and Nissan are both experiencing parts supply problems since Japan was devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Toyota is having difficulty getting more than a 100 different parts that are crucial to its U.S. manufacturing plants. As a result, its North American auto production is operating at 30 percent capacity; the company doesn’t expect to return to pre-quake production levels until November or December. The Toyota plants here in Kentucky are operating three days a week. Nissan is also experiencing parts supply problems.

An April 19 New York Times story reports Toyota’s three-day production schedule will last through June 3, with the plants operating at half their normal capacity the days it is operating. The plants also will be closed the week of Memorial Day.

Tower Automotive opened its Bardstown metal stamping plant in 1994. Kentucky economic development figures show that Tower employed about 515 people as of last year.

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