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Maytag's floor care division Hoover Co. said it will shut down its floor cleaning extractor production line in North Canton, Ohio, U.S., eliminating 275 jobs by year end as the company shifts work to lower-cost plants.
The North Canton plant has about 1,075 hourly workers, down from about 1,500 as recently as 2003 and will produce some steam vacuums, canister vacuum cleaners, commercial uprights and a small floor scrubber and polisher.
The Eagle line's injection molding machines will go to El Paso, Texas, U.S. with final assembly of the floor cleaners, which place water and cleaning liquid onto carpet or hard floors and extracts the dirt and water out, in Juarez, Mexico, said Jim Repace, president of Local 1985 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
John Daggett, spokeswoman for Hoover parent Maytag Corp., based in of Newton, Iowa, U.S. said the company expects to start the line up again in its new locations early next year. He said that will mean a substantial reduction of jobs in North Canton, but he would not say how many.
The announcement is the latest in a series for Hoover. In late 2003, union workers agreed to concessions in return for an extended contract through 2008. By June 2004, there were less than 1,200 hourly workers when Maytag announced it was moving Hoover's headquarters to Iowa and laying off about 500 white-collar workers.
The union contends removal of the line violates language in its contract prohibiting outsourcing.
A court-appointed arbitrator, Paul F. Gerhart, ruled that the product line can be moved, but the ruling will be appealed in federal court, Repace told the Akron Beacon Journal. (AP)
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