Staying with the story
The Springfield News-Sun provides unmatched coverage of Navistar and other large employers in Clark and Champaign counties. The paper has followed significant developments at Navistar for years, from shakeups at its corporate offices to its efforts to become financially stable after struggles with an engine technology that failed to meet Environmental Protection Agency standards.
Navistar announced plans Monday to close a foundry facility in Indianapolis, but said the move will have no effect on operations in Springfield.
Closing the Indianapolis foundry site will eliminate about 180 jobs and reduce the company’s operating costs by about $13 million annually, according to information from the company. That facility produces engine blocks and heads for its proprietary engines.
The move won’t have any effect on the truckmaker’s operations in Springfield, said Steve Schrier, a spokesman for Navistar.
In Springfield, the company’s contract with its labor unions expired on Oct. 1, and both sides are still negotiating the details of a new collective bargaining agreement. Both sides are operating under the terms of a 2010 contract that has temporarily been extended.
Officials from the United Auto Workers Local 402, which represents the majority of employees at the Springfield facility, couldn’t be reached for comment Monday about the Indianapolis facility or status of negotiations. Navistar employs about 1,000 workers in Springfield.
A news release from Navistar described the decision to close the Indianapolis facility as difficult, but necessary. The company is working to become more financially stable after its engine technology failed to meet carbon emission standards set by the environmental protection agency.
Closing the Indianapolis facility will allow the company to reduce engine costs and free up additional resources to invest in its North America truck and parts business, Navistar officials said in a news release. The company plans to close the Indianapolis facility next summer.
Greg Essex, president of UAW Local 226, told the Indianapolis Star that workers there agreed to a 40-percent cut in pay and benefits four years ago. He said Navistar didn’t put knowledgeable managers in charge of the plant, the Star reports, and said it has been plagued by high rates of parts needing reworking.
“We’ve done our part as a workforce and they (management) failed us,” Essex told the Star. “It’s been a gold mine run as a coal mine.”
In the meantime, negotiations with the UAW will continue as both sides try to reach a consensus on several issues.
A website devoted to the negotiations recently noted Navistar and the UAW last met face-to-face on Nov. 6.
“We recognize that operating under these conditions is stressful,” said Barry Morris, director of labor relations for Navistar in a post on the website “It’s in the best interest of everyone – our employees, their communities and our operations – to remove the uncertainty by getting a new contract in place as soon as we can.”
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