Posted on 09/11/2004 3:01:29 PM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
ONEIDA, N.Y. - Dishware maker Oneida Ltd. said Thursday it will close its remaining factory in upstate New York early next year, ending all its manufacturing of flatware because of high operating costs.
The decision will cost about 500 workers their jobs, including manufacturing and managerial positions.
Oneida said high operating costs of its last flatware factory in Sherrill, near Syracuse, caused substantial losses. Oneida plans to continue marketing the affected products by using independent suppliers.
"For the long-term viability of our company, closing the factory dramatically lowers our costs which will help return Oneida to profitability," chairman and chief executive Peter Kallet said.
About 400 jobs will remain in the Oneida area following the last factory closing, mostly at its corporate headquarters and warehouse and distribution centers. The Oneida-based company employs about 1,200 people worldwide.
The announcement came as the company reported a second quarter net loss of $48.3 million on Thursday including non-recurring charges of about $45.5 million.
The non-recurring charges, in addition to the factory closing expenses, involved inventory writedowns and other expenses related to the sale of the Encore Promotions, Inc. subsidiary.
In June, the company reached a tentative deal with its lenders on a restructuring plan and $30 million in new revolving credit to help avoid bankruptcy.
Oneida lost $99.2 million last year. As a result, the company closed or sold five factories and now buys most of its china, glassware and flatware from other companies to resell under the Oneida brand name.
Too bad. I've been buying Oneida for 17 years. Let's face it if you have any kind of factory job in this country no matter what your supervisor says you should be preparing to do something else.
WG how much does the Left pay you. You're only contributiuon to this forum is the printing of jobs layoffs. Did you do that during the 90s??
ping
Only since Conservative America refused to make pat buchanan emperor.
Hey! Don't be dissin' chopsticks.
Wow. You're soooo smart. And funny, too!
You ought to head up to Oneida and share your sense of humor with the community. I'm sure they'd appreciate it even more than we do here at FR.
Even Lefty's have to face reality once in a while. Maybe these folks can all get cocooned Academia jobs?
I thought Hillary's listening tour took care of all the manufacturing problems in upstate New York.
Maybe a good job in IT. Uh..., nevermind.
Grocery market jobs are by the way being outsourced to immigrant labor who will be happy to work for less than seasoned American workers making $18.00 per hour. This is what the unions are doing to us.
I cannot speak for Mr. Green but I don't think he is doing these posts to undermine Bush or prop up Kerry.These changes to the job market are structural and are not the"fault"of Bush,Clinton or any one man.
The sad reality is that the stock answer many people give to these job losses is that laid off workers should go back to school and learn a new skill in line with the demands of the 21st Century and that is all well and good EXCEPT for the fact that there are large segments of the American population that are functionally illiterate and can no way handle the technical and complex skills required of these new careers.
So then perhaps we should fix the dysfunctional public education apparatus in America and halt this downward spiral?Good luck on THAT one,baby!
Riverman
I'm surprised that neither the article nor any other posters have mentioned the fact that Oneida silverware was established as the money-making enterprise of a famous commune, the Oneida Society. This community, established in the mid 19th century, practiced a form of group marriage.
I suppose you can stick a fork in'em now!
This is a good thing. The labor and capital can now be allocated to something worthwhile.
He's in a deep depression then. If two people lose their jobs making paper clips in Lawton, OK he tells us about it. We have a national unemployment rate of 5.4%. There is a lot of affluence out there. Some people aren't making it, but most are.
In my neck of the woods, people are buying huge houses, big SUVs, plasma tvs and living better than 99% of the rest of the world.
Willie is a depressed guy looking for hardship and stoking anxiety. He should run the Kerry campaign.
I peaked out from behind my blinders, and I noticed that too.
I wish people would only post happy stuff.
Yep... the one of the famous (or infamous) Utopian communities of the 1800s.
Wow, first L.E. Smith Glass, now Oneida flatware. Very sad. I have Oneida's Louisiana pattern.
Of course the govrenment letting in so many illegal and even legal immigrants is a de facto subsidy to employers, but I guess thats ok because it keeps the economy going on a quarter to quarter basis.
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