Auto Parts Supplier to Cut 200 Jobs at Fort Wayne Plant Next Spring

FORT WAYNE, Ind. December 10,2003; The AP reported that Auto parts supplier Dana Corp. said it will lay off about 200 workers at its plant in Fort Wayne, about a third of the plant's work force, next spring after losing a contract with DaimlerChrysler.

Dana said Tuesday the layoffs followed DaimlerChrysler's decision to make axles for the 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee at one of its own plants in Detroit rather than at the Dana plant, which had manufactured the axles.

The layoffs are scheduled for May. The Fort Wayne plant has about 600 employees. Hourly workers at the plant earn an average of about $20 an hour.

Dana already cut about 300 jobs at the plant last year when it shifted its technology center and division headquarters to Toledo, Ohio, where the company is based.

The job cuts were especially frustrating because union workers in February ratified a three-year contract that included cuts in wages and vacation pay in hopes of saving jobs, said Ken Saylor, president of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers Local 6-903.

The union represents nearly 590 hourly employees at the Fort Wayne Dana plant, down from about 1,800 three years ago.