More than 200 hourly workers at the Davenport-area Alcoa plant are being laid off as the aluminum maker strives to cope with the nation’s economic downturn. John Riches is spokesman for the factory in Riverdale.
Riches says they’ll be laying off around 220 people as part of the company’s global reduction that was announced earlier in the month. The number of salaried employees who will face layoff is still being finalized. He says the company is working with state officials to provide assistance for the employees.
Riches says, "Plant management will be meeting with the union leadership to try to identify the employees who are going to be impacted." The Quad Cities plant currently employs around 21-hundred people. The Pennsylvania-based company announced on January 6th that it’ll be cutting 13,500 workers globally, along with freezing salaries and new hires.
Riches says Alcoa’s seen a downturn in business since last fall and took steps to reduce costs and get to the point where layoffs could be avoided, "but the dramatic global economic downturn that we’ve seen has really impacted our business volume." The Davenport-area plant makes both plates and sheets of aluminum that are used in industries including: aerospace, defense, commercial transportation and automotives.
