Union confirms Midland Forge plans to leave

CEDAR RAPIDS, Apr 24, 2009 (The Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- CMCO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Midland Forge is negotiating an agreement to close its Cedar Rapids plant with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

Machinists Local 831 Business Manager Joe Ironside held severance negotiations with plant workers Thursday morning. He said Columbus McKinnon Corp., the parent company of Midland Forge, wants to move operations from Cedar Rapids to Chattanooga, Tenn., where it operates Dixie Industries.

"It's a done deal," Ironside said of the company's relocation plan. "We are negotiating severance, but we don't have a (closing) date." The union received its first indication of the plant closing when the company requested a meeting on April 17.

"It was a complete surprise," Ironside said. He said jobs at the plant were "family wage jobs," paying an average of about $20 per hour with benefits.

The closing will end a 66year manufacturing history at Midland Forge, which began in 1943 as Midland Industries. It occupied a 40,000-square-foot plant at 910 Second Ave. SW before moving in August 1973 to a modern 50,000-square-foot plant at 101 50th Ave. SW.

The plant site is the former location of Hunter Field, the first airport in Cedar Rapids.

Midland Forge was sold to Columbus McKinnon in June 1976, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the Amherst, N.Y., company.

Midland Forge has supplied more than $1.3 million worth of overhead hooks and shackles to the U.S. government to hoist military vehicles onto transports during the war in Iraq. The plant has produced hooks and shackles for about 30 years.

Ironside said the company is seeking an orderly transfer of the plant's operations. It is a situation similar to that facing workers at Sealed Air Cryovac in Cedar Rapids, which announced in December that it plans to close within 10 months as part of a strategy to consolidate production in "manufacturing centers of excellence." A total of 105 Machinists Local 831 members work at the southwest Cedar Rapids Midland Forge plant. Another 48 Local 831 members are on layoff from the plant.

Plant employees learned about the likelihood of a plant closing on Monday, but have been reluctant to speak publicly because of concerns that it could jeopardize their severance benefits.

Ironside said he talked about the situation Sunday to Gov. Chet Culver. He said economic development officials are doing what they can to keep Midland Forge in Cedar Rapids.

"He was extremely receptive and we've done everything we can do," Ironside said.

Providing workers who will lose their jobs with continued health care benefits will be a primary focus of severance talks, Ironside said. The union also is talking to the company about severance pay, vacation pay, job counseling, outpatient services and references.

Columbus McKinnon spokeswoman Karen Howard said Tuesday that the company was in negotiations with the union as part of a corporate effort to reduce its "manufacturing footprint." Howard was unavailable for comment on Thursday.

-- Contact the writer: (319) 398-8317 or david.dewitte@gazcomm.com

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