Published: November 21, 2008 12:34 am         

Bemis to lay off 100 on Dec. 1

Company official says seasonal drop in orders led to work force reduction

TERRE HAUTE — Bemis Co. in Terre Haute expects to lay off about 100 employees next month, a company official confirmed.

The company informed union leadership Thursday about the impending layoffs, said Melanie Miller, Bemis vice president and treasurer.

The layoffs would occur Dec. 1.

“It’s disappointing to have to make this kind of move around the holidays,” Miller said. “It’s never something you want to do.”

The company, which makes plastic film, employs about 1,000 workers in Terre Haute.

The company does some seasonal business, which is strong in spring and summer, she said. That business includes overwrap packaging for multipacks of bottled water. That seasonal business becomes very slow from October through December, Miller said.

To avoid layoffs during that slow time of year, the company has convinced customers who order a lot of packaging in the spring to let Bemis produce some of it early during the slower months, she said.

“This year, because of the economy we’re in, those customers are not willing to let us make the product early because they are not confident in their own volumes that they’ll have in spring,” she said.

Without those early orders, “We don’t have enough business to keep all of our workers busy,” Miller said.

The company will revisit its staffing in March and “hopefully we can adjust [the number of employees] back up,” she said. “We have to see what happens.”

Historically, it has not been unusual for Bemis to have slowdowns this time of year and then speed production back up in spring, she said. The company made some business changes to avoid those fluctuations, she said.

Kirk Smith, president of Unite Here Local 1426, said the union expects to learn more details today. “Bemis has become a [seasonal] employer” for about 60 to 100 workers that are laid off every year, he said.

He believes management needs to find a way to keep union employees working full-time year-round.

Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.