State-Journal.com - Former employees: 80 laid off at Montaplast

Two former employees of Montaplast say 80 employees - possibly 100 - have been laid off in recent weeks.

John Phillips, Montaplast’s director of human resources, declined to comment on the layoffs which has been the case in a number of industries nationwide in the wake of sagging auto and house sales.

The two former employees, who asked that their names be withheld for fear of retribution, said the layoffs began in March and February.

Local elected officials and business leaders say they were unaware of any layoffs at Montaplast. Company officials have generally declined to comment on personnel matters at the plant.

The company, which fabricates injection-molded plastic automotive parts, has employed as many as 900.

However, one former employee said Montaplast’s second and third shifts have been reduced by as much as 50 percent. No new workers have been hired to fill the vacancies, according to the employee.

“They are gradually chipping away at people all the time,” one former employee told The State Journal.

Montaplast was founded in Germany in 1958 and has offices in China, Germany, France, Japan and the United Kingdom. The Frankfort factory opened in 1993.

The company supplies parts to a number of major automotive companies including Ford, General Motors, Nissan and Toyota.

A number of local automotive-related companies have closed or cut more than 350 jobs in the past year, including Certified Tool and Die, RJ Industries and Jeff Sach’s General Motors dealership.

The closures and cutbacks are part of a national and statewide trend as sales from U.S. automakers fell 37 percent between March 2008 and 2009, according to the Associated Press.

Automotive parts suppliers have cut 450 jobs in Winchester and 200 in Georgetown. An automotive supplier in Shelbyville will close its plant soon resulting in the loss of 79 jobs.

The industry employs about 35,000 in Kentucky - the sixth highest total in the nation, according to a 2007 report by the Center for Automotive Research.

According to the Kentucky Office of Employment and Training, more than 34,000 manufacturing jobs in Kentucky have been cut in the last year. Total manufacturing employment has fallen from 252,000 last year to 218,000 in February 2009.

The unemployment rate in Franklin County has increased from 5.8 percent in February 2008 to an unadjusted preliminary rate of 8.7 percent in February 2009.

That’s below the national average of 8.9 percent and the unadjusted preliminary state rate of 10.2 percent.