Siemens to close its plant on Wynn
Move to Mexico seen by 2007; Madison site stays
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Siemens VDO Automotive plans to close one of two former DaimlerChrysler plants it purchased here last year and move those product lines to Mexico over the next two years.
Most of the work done at the Wynn Drive site, which employs more than 400 people, will be moved to a Siemens plant in Guadalajara. Siemens will continue to operate its plant in Madison near the Huntsville International Airport, and has no plans to close it, a company spokesman said Wednesday.
The Wynn Drive plant is expected to be closed by late summer 2007. It is not clear how many of the plant's employees will be affected.
Local United Auto Workers officials said Wednesday the company has told them it will try to fold the affected work force into the Madison operation, but Brad Warner, a spokesman for Siemens VDO Automotive, said it was premature to say there would be no effect on workers.
Overall, the two plants employ about 1,500 people, down from about 2,400 employees in 2003.
Quintin King, president of UAW Local 1413 which represents about 1,300 hourly and skilled trades workers at the plants, said Siemens told the union last year it wanted to close the Wynn Drive plant. King said the union was informed July 11 of Siemens' closure plan.
King said Siemens has said it will move production of two products built at the Wynn Drive site into the Madison plant.
Warner said Siemens wants to move the dashboard cluster work to its Guadalajara plant because the plant specializes in that work. The Madison plant will continue its electrical work for engines and car bodies, Warner said. Siemens leases the Wynn Drive plant from DaimlerChrysler, which will decide what to do with the building after it closes.
"This allows Guadalajara to keep doing what they do best and it frees up floor space to allow Huntsville to focus on its other product portfolios," Warner said. "People may wonder if we're going to phase out the other lines to Mexico and the simple answer is 'No.' We have no plans to phase out the other products."
As part of Siemens' purchase agreement with DaimlerChrysler, DaimlerChrysler employees were given the choice to remain with the company or transfer to another DaimlerChrysler plant when jobs became available. Hundreds of Chrysler workers from Huntsville have moved to plants across the United States and more are expected to move to other plants in the next few years.
The negotiations with the UAW as part of the sale also created a two-tier wage system, with some new workers for Siemens coming in at significantly lower pay than original Chrysler workers.
Rick Yohman, president of UAW Local 1929 which represents about 250 office and clerical workers and engineers at the two plants, said about 20 of his union members work at the Wynn Drive plant and are expected to move to the other one.
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