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