FWD: Fruit of the Loom Laying Off About 5,100 Employees

[MDOLAN <mdolan@citizen.org>]

  http://www.wral-tv.com/news/national/FruitoftheLoom-Layoff___=AP.html
  
  Fruit of the Loom Laying Off About 5,100 Employees
  
                                      August 8, 1997 - 07:30 EDT
  
  CHICAGO (AP) -- About 5,100 Fruit of the Loom Inc. workers will soon be out 
  of jobs as the leading underwear and activewear maker tries to fend off 
  cutthroat competition from foreign textile companies.
  
  Fruit of the Loom said it will lay off about 4,800 workers at six plants 
  and close a 300-employee plant in Port Barre, La. The layoffs and closing 
  will take effect Oct. 6.
  
  ``We need to position ourselves globally to be competitive, not just today 
  but tomorrow,'' said Mark Steinkrauss, a spokesman at the Chicago-based 
  company.
  
  The plants affected by Thursday's announcement are in Jamestown, Ky.; 
  Campbellsville, Ky.; Greenville, Miss.; Martin Mills, La.; Abbeville, La.; 
  and Harlingen, Texas. Affected employees are paid $10 to $10.50 an hour 
  before benefits, he said.
  
  The layoffs will be offset by plans to add 1,000 other textile jobs at 
  those plants, Steinkrauss said. The new jobs will be in knitting, bleaching 
  and dyeing.
  
  The company has been moving manufacturing jobs to other countries to take 
  advantage of lower prevailing wages for the past five years, and Thursday's 
  moves are a continuation of that policy, Steinkrauss said.
  
  He said employees given pink slips will be given first priority access to 
  the new positions.
  
  Fruit of the Loom's last big cutback came in 1995 when it announced it was 
  eliminating more than 3,200 jobs in five states, about 12 percent of its 
  U.S. work force. It employs about 36,000 people worldwide.
  
  By GINA CHON, Associated Press Writer
  ***** NOTES from MDOLAN (MDOLAN @ CITIZEN) at 8/08/97 9:28 AM