(The following article by Dan Heath was posted on the Plattsburgh Press Republican website on September 19.)
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Layoffs at Bombardier Transportation in Plattsburgh will affect more than half the workforce.
Bombardier Transportation Plattsburgh Plant General Manager James Tooley said hundreds of the facility’s 554 employees will lose their jobs as the contract to build 1,172 M-7 railcars for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is completed.
“I think we’ll ship the last M-7 unit just before Christmas,” Tooley said.
As the last car moves from each work station, the employees of that area will either lose their jobs or displace other employees, based on seniority.
Bombardier Transportation Senior Director of Communications Hélène Gagnon said 150 employees received 60-day notices of layoff Tuesday afternoon under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
She said that number will grow to about 280 by the end of December, including 220 hourly workers and 60 salaried employees.
Tooley spoke as Sen. Betty Little and Tom Dunham, counsel for State Sen. Dean Skelos, toured the plant Tuesday morning.
Little addressed a small gathering of Bombardier employees before the tour.
“My emphasis is to make sure my colleagues know what you have up here,” she said.
She told them she is doing everything in her power to help Bombardier land new contracts. Those efforts include exploring whether there is funding and a need for another option of 94 M-7 cars for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Long Island Railroad.
Later, Tooley said that even if that option is exercised, it would take time to build the car shells and obtain the sub-assemblies from suppliers. That means work on those units would probably not start until August or September 2007.
Tuesday’s tour was originally planned to include Skelos, who is on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Capital Program Review Board, which puts together the capital spending plans for the rail system, which includes the Metro-North Railroad, Long Island Railroad and New York City Transit. Skelos was unable to attend the tour due to a death in the family.
Little said she didn’t want to avoid Plattsburgh just because there was bad news at Bombardier. The opportunity to provide a tour of the plant to Skelos’s representative was very important.
“It makes a big difference when you’ve seen a great company like this in action,” she said.
Production Supervisor Shawn Cook said it’s sad the M-7 contract is coming to an end. He knows there are more opportunities coming, though, and says it helps that the company has a large, skilled workforce available in Plattsburgh.
He credits Bombardier’s World Class Manufacturing Program, which creates a clean and organized workplace and workforce, with helping to land the contract with the Chicago Transit Authority.
That contract calls for Bombardier to build 406 rapid-transit vehicles, with an option for 300 more. But that work isn’t expected to start until September 2009.
Once the final go-ahead is received, the company would have 30 months to build and deliver 10 prototypes, which would be tested for nine months.
Tooley said Bombardier expects to complete a contract with the Utah Transit Authority for 12 bi-level railcars within the next month.
In February, work will begin on an additional 12 units: eight for Utah and four for transit authorities in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas.
A contract to build 231 bi-level railcars for N.J. Transit is expected to run through 2008 and into 2009. There are two options for additional cars, which could be exercised, the first of which is for 47 cars, Tooley said.
After the tour, Dunham said he will convey to Skelos how impressive it was to see the different railcars being built in Plattsburgh.
“First and foremost, just how impressive this factory is and how much it means to the economy of this area,” Dunham said.
It also became apparent how many other companies supply Bombardier, which he called an economic engine for Plattsburgh and the North Country.
“He (Skelos) needs to do all he can to make sure this plant remains viable,” Dunham said.