From Associated Press via MEMA Industry News
SYRACUSE, IN — Auto-parts supplier Dana Corp. said it will lay off about 75 workers at a plant in northern Indiana that cuts and assembles axle components.
The job cuts — about half the remaining work force — will leave about 80 jobs at the plant in Syracuse, Ind., said Dana spokesman Gary Corrigan.
The layoffs, which will be made in May, will affect workers who produce parts for DaimlerChrysler Corp. DaimlerChrysler has decided to make those parts internally, Corrigan said.
The cuts are part of a restructuring plan begun by Dana more than two years ago. Employees were notified of the cuts more than a year ago and the company already has worked out a severance package with workers, Corrigan said. He declined to discuss details of the package.
The plant, about 40 miles southeast of South Bend, employed 385 people in May 2002, but the work force was reduced when Dana sold some of its production lines to Michigan-based U.S. Manufacturing Corp.
Toledo-based Dana initially had planned to sell the entire plant, but was unable to find a suitable buyer.
Dana, which makes parts such as brakes and axles, had struggled in recent years because of auto industry slowdowns.
Two years ago it began eliminating 11,000 jobs through plant closings and consolidations. Those reductions came on top of about 10,000 job cuts because of declining auto production and slow U.S. sales.
Last month, Dana announced a fourth-quarter profit of $68 million, or 45 cents per share.
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