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Boswell said Tuesday that he was informed by Tower via an "official notice of lay off" letter that 73 lay offs will occur at their South Industrial Park plant Friday, leaving the plant with only 71 employees.
Tower spokesman Josh Kirik, who said on Tuesday that Tower's policy is not to comment on "business or operational matters," on Wednesday said the lay offs will not take place exactly as described by Boswell.
"Apparently something must have been lost in the translation," Kirik said.
Kirik said the 73 lay offs have already occurred over the past seven months, leaving the plant with 122 employees at the present time, down from about 195 employees at the beginning of the year. When asked if he knew of any plans for more lay offs, Kirik said, "I really can't say. That'll be determined by the market."
Kirik said the most recent lay off was of 22 employees and that the other 50 have been made since January.
Wade Jones, president of the East Mississippi Business Development Corp. said
he spoke to the president of Tower on Wednesday and that he told him the same thing: the current number of employees is 122 and the number of employees that have been laid off since January is 73.
Jones remained positive despite the lay offs, saying "While things have slowed down in terms of industrial prospects, we still are receiving inquiries about Meridian and Lauderdale County as a location for industrial plants." He also noted that, despite slow economic times, retail and hotel development are strong in the Meridian area.
Boswell refused Wednesday to provide The Meridian Star with a copy of the notice of lay off, saying, "I'm not going to give out my mail to you."
He did, however, read the letter to a reporter in a phone interview Tuesday.
Boswell maintained Wednesday that he did not misread anything and told the reporter, "Whatever I read to you was true."
According to what Boswell said Tuesday, Tower sent a letter stating that 73 employees would be laid off Friday. The lay offs, he read from the letter, would be made based on date of hire and employees would remain on call-back status for 12 months.
The letter, as read by Boswell, also stated that the lay offs were due to a decrease in demand for the auto parts made at the plant.
Boswell said a Tower spokesperson called him last week to inform him that 22 lay offs would be made. He said he received the notice this week stating that 73 would be laid off.
To see more of The Meridian Star or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.meridianstar.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Meridian Star, Miss. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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