Layoffs announced in green energy – Iowa, Florida

Editor’s Note – Green energy jobs and union jobs are next to feel the ax. As Obama campaigns, core parts of his constituency of support and his green endeavors are facing unemployment in key battleground states. Iowans and Floridians have seen much of him lately – SUA wonders if his union supporters are aware that the economy is still in dire straits and that there vote directly affects their jobs.

American Airlines is restructuring and Siemens wind energy arm is cutting back because that sector is not selling.

AMR EXPECTS ABOUT 4,400 JOB CUTS, WARNS 11,000

By DAVID KOENIG - AP – Big Story

DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines is sending layoff warning notices to more than 11,000 employees although a spokesman says the company expects job losses to be closer to 4,400.

The notices went out to mechanics and ground workers whose jobs will be affected as American goes through a bankruptcy restructuring.

American Airlines spokesman Bruce Hicks said Tuesday that fewer than 40 percent of those getting notices will lose their jobs. Hicks said federal law requires the company to notify anyone whose position could change including those who could get “bumped” by more-senior employees whose jobs are eliminated or outsourced.

American said in February that it planned to cut 14,000 jobs, including 13,000 held by union workers. But the number was reduced as American negotiated new labor contracts and gave bonuses to flight attendants and ground workers who quit.

Separately the leader of the pilots’ union blasted the company, saying it is “paying lip service” to negotiating a contract while using the bankruptcy process to wring punitive cost-cutting concessions from pilots.

Eight other labor groups approved long-term contracts that will help AMR cut annual labor spending by about $1 billion. Pilots, however, voted overwhelmingly against the company’s last contract offer, and a federal bankruptcy judge allowed American to impose new pay and working rules on pilots.

Read the rest here.

Siemens to lay off 615 in Iowa, Kansas, Florida

By DAVID PITT | Associated Press – Yahoo News

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Wind energy equipment manufacturer Siemens Energy Inc. will lay off 615 workers in Iowa, Kansas, and Florida in part because Congress has not renewed a tax credit forwind energy, the company said Tuesday.

Siemens said the biggest job losses will come in Fort Madison, Iowa, where 407 workers at a wind-turbine blade factory will be out of work. About 220 workers will be retained at the plant to support ongoing operations, spokeswoman Melanie Forbrick said in a statement.

Siemens Wind Power - Direct Drive Unit

About 146 workers are affected in Hutchinson, Kan., leaving 152 still working. In Orlando, Fla., about 62 workers will lose their jobs and about 150 will remain.

The company blamed difficult market conditions due to lack of congressional action on a wind energy tax credit as well as increased use of natural gas-fired power plants. It said it has worked for the past 10 months to address the uncertainties but needed to adjust its work force until demand for turbines returns.

“As a result, following the rapid ramp-up of the wind power industry over the past five years, the industry is facing a significant drop in new orders, and this has an unfortunate consequence on employment in this segment of the power industry,” the company said in a statement. “Now, we have had to make the difficult decision to adjust the manufacturing, projects and administrative support functions of our wind power operations to reflect the current and projected business volume.”

Full-time workers with at least six months on the job will get a severance package which includes continuation of some benefits, career counseling, resume preparation and job-placement assistance.

The layoffs will leave the company with about 1,000 workers in its wind power business in the United States. (Read the rest here.)

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