by Remington Arms will furlough up to 500 employees at its Illion, NY plant and up to 199 employees at its Huntsville, AL plant this summer. The upaid furlough will be from June 3rd until August 2nd. The Ilion plant was already scheduled to be scheduled for a maintenance shutdown for the first two weeks of July and employees are getting paid leave for that time.
Ilion Mayor Brian Lamica had this to say to the Utica Observer-Dispatch:
Ilion Mayor Brian Lamica received word of the layoffs Tuesday. He was told that one of the product lines, employing about 280 people, will continue to run through the summer, but the rest will be idled.
“During that period there’s a normal two-week shutdown. That will be a paid vacation period for those who have paid vacation,” Lamica added.
He noted that Remington is planning to bring back the entire workforce Aug. 9.
“It’s not good,” Lamica commented of the move. “I’m optimistic things will pick up for them come early fall and everybody will be back to work. Two weeks is one thing, but two months — even though two weeks would be paid — I feel sorry for the workers and their families.”
The furlough could result in some workers leaving the area to find another job, the mayor said.
“I’ve been hearing rumors for about two weeks. I was hoping things would turn around. There’s too much in the warehouse and not enough being bought,” Lamica said.
According to the Rome (NY) Sentinel, no notice was given to the NY State Department of Labor as may be required under the New York State Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. However, in Alabama, the Department of Commerce did receive notice and has said it will work to help the impacted employees.
No stories have detailed which product assembly lines will be affected by the furloughs.
Chuck Lester of the Village of Illion Board of Trustees was interviewed by Utica WIBX Radio and had more details in the video recording of it below.
I've heard, more than once, when someone is shopping for a new Remington or Marlin advice along the lines of "Buy used and buy from before X date."
Remington hasn't showered itself in glory with regards to quality control over the past decade and the customer base knows it.
Worse, regaining trust lost is far harder than keeping trust earned was; and more expensive.