TYLER (KYTX) -- Carrier may start laying off employees at it's Tyler plant as soon as sSptember now that the union has agreed to a severance package deal.
"Carrier has a slogan called ACE," Business Manager for the Sheet Metal Workers Union Blain Strickland said. "It stands for Achieving Competitive Excellence. Our term for it is Achieving Cheap Employment, because it's exactly what they're doing."
Strickland was one of the negotiators on the severance package.
"It will affect, directly from the Carrier plant, four to 500 people," he said.
Strickland said major components of the severance package include:
- One week of pay for every year the employee has worked at Carrier
- Six months of health care coverage
- Scholarships for education
- A signing bonus for relocating
But no word on how many people could be offered jobs at other cCrrier plants.
"I thought we would get more," former Carrier worker Anna Boultinghouse said. "But according to union representatives, the other plants didn't get as much as we did, and the company didn't have to give us anything."
Boultinghouse has worked for Carrier for 30 years. She said many employees are just relieved to know a final decision has been made.
"Some are looking forward to going to school," she said. "Some are just looking for something else to do besides manufacturing work."
Tom Mullins with the Economic Development Council in Tyler said manufacturing jobs haven't been doing well for a while now, and whether or not Carrier employees will be able to find new jobs after this is going to depend on what kind of skills they have.
"Some of them will have some marketable skills," he said. "They might be able to find some jobs locally, others will have to move. Others will have to train."
There's no official word from Carrier today but the Tyler plant is set to close by the end of 2013.
TYLER (KYTX) - Negotiations between Carrier and the union were settled today.
Business manager Brian Strickland said a severance package was worked out with the Sheet Metal Workers Association giving them a weeks worth of pay for every year that they worked.
In addition, the agreement will include six months of healthcare.
Layoffs will begin in September and periodically until the final layoff is made in 2013.
The first group of employees to be laid off this September has already been notified.
