Posted on 09/10/2004 12:22:23 PM PDT by Condor51
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. announced Thursday that it will lay off 114 of 159 employees at its Clarksdale plant. The layoffs will occur Nov. 12.
The layoffs, according to Cooper Tire spokeswoman Patricia J. Brown, are necessary because of a steady decline in the demand for inner tubes. Cooper Tire owns 30 plants, but the Clarksdale location is the only one that still makes inner tubes.
Brown said the plant will discontinue inner-tube production when the layoffs occur but will remain open to produce bladders and continue mixing operations for internal consumption by other Cooper facilities. The bladders are used in the production of car tires.
Affected employees have been notified and will receive outplacement assistance from the company, Brown said.
(Excerpt) Read more at zwire.com ...
Inner tube makers, like buggy-whip makers IS NOT exactly a good career choice. But hey, I'm just a mean ole Republican.
Yeah, those stupid proles thought they were going to work in a tire factory and wound up in a buggy whip factory. It's too bad everyone isn't as astute as you are.
Better Headline:
Cooper Tire Blowout --- to slash 114 Tire jobs in Clarksdale
Ping
Any wheel with spokes will use an inner tube. Motorcycles and bicycles for example. With the strong growth of motorcycling the past few years, the manufacture of inner tubes is hardly a "buggy-whip" industry.
Anyway, years ago you’d run across a red inner tube… the black ones were vulcanized or something but the red ones were nice and stretchy. We used them to make slingshots.
That’s the real shame… haven’t been able to find a good slingshot making inner tube for 35+ years…
This is tiresome.
The spoked wheel on the BMW R1150GS/R1200GS motorcycle uses a tubeless tire. I believe the R1100GS uses one also.
Surgical tubing also works.
This is in Clarksdale, Mississippi in case anyone's wondering about what state it is in.
There is a process to seal the holes where the spokes are attached, but most manufacturers don't use it. I wasn't aware that BMW did.
"It's too bad everyone isn't as astute as you are."
I detect sarcasm! You've been here since 1999 and you don't realize that this kind of sarcasm is lost on the majority here? Wow. Let's see... I think it goes like this: "Yes, it's too bad they didn't choose more wisely.", "They can retrain, if they are too old, too bad", "I worked 3 jobs and went to school when I wasn't working, they can too", "They wouldn't be in a bad situation if they weren't, (lazy, stupid, uneducated, liberal)"
My flamesuit is on. I'm prepared for the usual sneers and jeers and chants that I should go to the DU.
What, no inner tubes. What do I use at the beach now?
And the last car I had with tubed tires was my 1962 Chevy. Heck even my 1970 Ford had tubeless tires. That's 34 years ago.
Plus, what did these people think, that the union would keep them employeed in an OBSOLETE job, sitting at the plant doing nothing? Making things that aren't used?
So yeah, it's like buggy-whip makers. There's still some around but not as many in 1904.
Yes, I heard that the buggy whip factory just had to lay off a number of whip makers and the carbon paper factory had to close.
What will be next? The steamboat factory?
Clarksdale MISSISSIPPI
Almost every passenger car I’m aware of has gone tubeless but a lot of truck tires run tubes.""
AMEN. I have had to add a tube when I had a rim that had a small tweak in it. Couldn't get another rim. Tube solved the problem. Also sometimes same problem on 2 horse trailer. Tube solves it.
Most Nextel Cup cars run an innerliner (which is similar to a tube).
Moto Guzzi and Aprillia have been using them on certain models for several years now.
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