Butler County economy by the numbers
7% unemployment rate on average in 2012, or 13,500 people
3,300 jobs added in 2012, raising employment to 179,600 people
541 potential jobs cuts announced at YRC Freight's West Chester Twp. distribution hub for May
160 layoffs supposed to be completed in March by BAE Systems in West Chester Twp.
SOURCE: Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
Butler County jobs have been caught in the crosshairs of a major national truck carrier’s consolidation plans.
Plans to close a West Chester Twp. freight distribution hub could affect as many as 541 jobs in Butler County, according to a layoff notice filed this week with the Ohio Office of Workforce Development. The job action would be Butler County’s single largest mass layoff announcement since the recession started in 2008.
YRC Freight, 10074 Princeton Glendale Road, plans to close the West Chester Twp. trucking facility in May, company officials wrote in a letter dated March 11 to the state. Layoffs are expected to occur between May 12 and May 25, the company said.
More explanation of where the 541 union and non-union jobs cuts listed come from was not clear in the letter. A spokesperson on behalf of the company did not respond to questions seeking clarification Thursday.
A YRC Freight truck terminal, next to the distribution center in West Chester on Commerce Park Drive, will stay open, said union leader Butch Lewis.
Lewis, president of the Teamsters Local 100 in Cincinnati, said the union office’s 279 members working at YRC Freight were notified Monday of the pending job losses.
“We knew there was change coming but had no idea it was this; that was an eye opener and shocked us,” Lewis said.
What hits workers the hardest is that many of them relocated to West Chester after the company closed facilities in recent years in Toledo and Columbus. Some employees had relocated to the Cincinnati area from as far north as Buffalo, N.Y. and Detroit, Mich., he said.
“They’ve followed that work to here and have to relocate again,” he said.
For certain, jobs will be eliminated for 34 mechanics, 103 dock workers and 142 road drivers, Lewis said. The employees live throughout the region, including Hamilton and West Chester Twp., with some coming from Indiana and Northern Kentucky.
Some employees will have opportunities to transfer to other terminals owned by YRC.
In the layoff notice filed with the state, Kelly Walls, YRC senior vice president of human resources, wrote: “A number of employees will have the right to transfer to other facilities pursuant to the parties’ collective bargaining agreement. If union employees do not follow-the-work, they will be placed on layoff status.”
“The jobs lost will primarily be absorbed by locations in Nashville and Indianapolis,” Lewis added. “But they will be able to relocate to many parts of the country.”
YRC Freight said in a press release Tuesday it sent a proposal to union leadership for a new set of network improvements — part of company efforts to improve customer service, optimize linehaul density and load average, reduce empty miles and reduce shipment handling.
“By realigning our network, YRC Freight will reduce the number of handling and relay locations in order to build network density,” said Jeff Rogers, president of YRC Freight, in a statement with Tuesday’s announcement.
“These network improvements will be seamless to our customers and when implemented will improve our service. The ongoing effort to optimize our network is also a key part of our sustainability efforts as we reduce mileage and emissions. Better density means fewer empty miles and less emissions.”
Impact on county economy
Butler County’s economy has shown steady improvement the past year, adding 3,300 jobs in 2012, dropping unemployment to a 2012 average 7 percent, according to Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Unemployment in Butler County averaged 5.9 percent in 2008, rising to 9.4 percent in 2009.
However, major job losses grip the county. Last year Hamilton paper mills SMART Papers and Mohawk Fine Papers closed, affecting more than 300 people left working at the plants. BAE Systems last year announced it was ending military production at its 200,000-square-foot facility in West Chester Twp. and transferring about 160 jobs to Sealy, Texas.
YRC Freight’s planned 541 job cuts would be Butler County’s single largest mass layoff announcement since the recession started. Although, SMART Papers and BAE Systems downsized several times since 2008, affecting more people in total. A Liz Claiborne layoff notice was filed in 2011 for 365 jobs and the distribution center was supposed to close last year. But the newspaper has since learned the distribution center’s new owners have changed plans, and will keep it open.
Barb Wilson, West Chester Twp. spokeswoman, said there have been bright spots in job creation within West Chester — a township with 3,000 corporate stakeholders.
“The net job growth has still been 1,500 new jobs (in 2012) despite these announcements,” Wilson said. “West Chester remains economically strong.”
About the company
YRC Freight is a division of YRC Worldwide Inc., a publicly-traded company headquartered in Overland Park, Kan.
The Butler County freight hub slated to close is a break bulk center for the company with a warehouse. Trucks bring freight to the center, and goods are combined and loaded on trailers for their end destination.
Three centers are closing nationally. Other distribution centers closing are in Memphis, Tenn., and St. Louis, Mo., according to Lewis of Teamsters.
YRC distributes freight of “anything and everything” across the country for a variety of companies, Lewis said.
A second local YRC Freight facility will keep open at 9991 Commerce Park Dr., West Chester Twp. At that location, a pickup and delivery operation, Lewis estimates there are about 80 employees.
YRC is one of the top five less-than-truckload carriers nationally, and the largest unionized carrier, said Charles Clowdis Jr., managing director, transportation advisory services, for consulting firm IHS Global Insight. YRC was formed out of a 2003 merger when Yellow Corp. acquired Roadway Corp., becoming Yellow Roadway Corp.
YRC Freight was recognized as Walmart’s 2012 National LTL Carrier of the Year.
“YRC has been through several of these downsizing in the last five years,” Clowdis said. “Without the wage concessions from the Teamsters union, YRC would have been gone a couple years ago.”
YRC Worldwide reported in February the company’s first positive annual operating income in six years of $24 million in 2012, compared to an operating loss the year before of $138 million. The company’s bottom line net loss in 2012 was $299 million, reduced from a 2011 loss of $346 million.
“I think they need to do something to show their lenders they’re taking some steps to lower their costs,” Clowdis said.
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice was filed with Ohio under Hamilton County, but West Chester Twp. officials confirmed the business is actually in Butler County.
Under the federal WARN Act implemented in 1989, businesses with more than 100 employees have to send notices 60 days in advance of layoffs of 50 or more employees at a time in a 30-day period at a single site.
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