Manufacturer announces layoffs
By From staff reports
Published in News on July 7, 2014 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/BOBBY WILLIAMS
The AAR manufacturing plant is seen this morning. AAR officials announced the company will be laying off 100 workers in its Mobility Systems Division by mid-September.
AAR Manufacturing officials this morning confirmed that about 100 workers at its Goldsboro Mobility Systems Division will be laid off beginning Aug. 29.
The layoff is due to the completion of the current production volumes of the FMTV (Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles used by the Army) contract with Oshkosh Defense, AAR spokesperson Kathleen Cantillon said in an email.
"AAR is doing its best to minimize the disruption to the lives of our employees and the community by working with the Department of Commerce, Division of Workforce Development, to help transition our loyal and dedicated employees back into the workforce as quickly as possible," she said.
AAR, which opened at 500 Gateway Drive in the ParkEast industrial park in 2006, is home to two divisions -- the Mobility Systems Division, where the cuts will be made, and the Cargo Systems Division.
The company received incentives from Wayne County when it opened the Cargo Systems Division. It has since met all of the requirements for those incentives, county officials said.
The Mobility Division did not open until later and no incentives were involved, the officials said.
Mike Haney, existing industry specialist with the county Development Alliance, referred questions about the layoff to AAR officials.
It is not the first time there has been a layoff in the Mobility Division.
In September, 2012 the division laid off 169 temporary employees that had been hired through an outside agency to meet a period of peak demand.
Those employees had been working on a contract for military shelters that mount on the backs of Army trucks.
AAR Mobility Systems filed a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notice with the North Carolina Department of Commerce, notifying state and local authorities that the layoff would be complete by Sept. 12.
The WARN Act requires employers to provide a 60-day notice of a covered plant's closing and mass layoffs.
It also enables Division of Workforce Solutions to provide assistance to affected workers and allows workers transition time to seek alternative jobs or enter training programs.
Most of the jobs impacted by the layoff include shelter technicians and welders.
AAR Mobility Systems also has operations in Fayetteville and in Cadillac, Mich.