The Bridgestone tire plant in Des Moines is offering severance packages to about 130 employees, after laying off more than a hundred people last June. The factory makes tires for farm machinery.
Local Steelworkers Union president Keenan Bell says the slow down at John Deere factories affects Bridgestone. Fewer tractors being made means less demand for tires, and Bell says sales forecasts predict the market will continue to slump.
“This isn’t nothing new to us, I guess,” Bell says. “We’ve never been this short, but yes, it does happen cyclically.”
Bell says many major ag businesses are tied to one another, so when John Deere experiences difficulties, Bridgestone has to make cuts, too.
“The whole market’s down,” Bell says. “When John Deere is in the news probably every month with a layoff here or a layoff there, and that directly affects our production lines.”
Bell says 102 employees are currently interested in taking the severance package. They are eligible for a $35,000 buyout.
If there aren’t enough people taking the buyout, the company will begin to look at other options, like furloughs or layoffs.
(By Lucia Cheng, Iowa Public Radio)