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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-01-21, Page 1Week 4 Year 160 •w•.g•l•rIc r:: •alstar.c•■ si y! 2S gst included Figs lisiture C11410 Na li.a w4 MOM 418-6241848 FAR TAA FREE CAN$ILTATIANI Barn -burner ■ The Goderich Fire Department' responded to a call at an area hog barn this weekend, saving 1,000 ani- mals in the process. P9• Earthquake relief ■ Paramedic Gary Renaud is headed back to Costa Rica to deliver medical aid fol- lowing a 6.1 magnitude earthquake. P9 • II Sports pg 21 ■ Editorial pg 6 Entertalnme: Photos by Denny Scott Drive safe Above, a rear -end collision on Highway 8 sent two people to hospital last week, one with minor injuries and the other as a precaution. Left, an all -too -familiar sign. Motorists need to take extra caution in winter months and stay off closed roads. Wescast restructuring claims 140 jobs eguitlisld Lucknow Sentinel Wescast Industries Inc. a manu- facturer of exhaust systems announced last week that it would be restructuring its North American operations significantly, which will see the loss of about 140 jobs. They will be closing the Wingham North Huron foundry and transferring the plant's produc- tions to its second Wingham found- ry, which is located on Water St. The move coincides with the H current state of the economy, and especially to the North American automotive industry. Vyescast pro- duces exhaust manifolds for the big -three automakers. "The very difficult decision to close the Wingham North Huron foundry came after a careful evalu- ation of our cost structure, expect- ed future business volumes and available capacity in other facili- ties," said Wescast Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ed Frackowiak in their official press release. Wescast will look to close the plant by the end of the first quarter of this year and report it will look to save an estimated annual fixed. savings cost of $10 million dollars. The restructuring charges associ- ated with the reduced production volumes are expected to be in the range of $60-65 million dollars. A point Frackowiak wanted to stress is the 140 jobs being cut will be mostly workers who are cur- rently on temporary leave. OT JANUARY SAVINGS SAVE AN ADDITIONAL 15% All Levolor Blinds N K, RXMaY EUR Att (basic roller shades excluded) G p[! R I O N 10% OFF lit LEVOLOR CALL OR COME IN FOR DETAILS SCUM sxMnllS Serving the Lakeshore and Beyond...Call us today for a Free In-home Consultation! The two Wingham foundries operate under the same collective bargaining agreement, so the streamlining will impact workers at both plants. Wescast is a company that needs to run at capacity and adhere to customerdemand, said Frackowiak. Current conditions in the auto industry make it impossible to do that; thus the Wingham plant is slated for closing. See JOBS, Page 3 35 Colborne St, Goderich 519-524-5965 831 Queen SL, Kincardine 519-396-4541 625 Goderich St, Port Fain 519-832-4543 • �I to ;d