Springfield Navistar plant to lay off 30 workers

Trucks being put together on the assembly line at the Navistar International plant in Springfield in 2018. JEFF GUERINI/STAFF

Trucks being put together on the assembly line at the Navistar International plant in Springfield in 2018. JEFF GUERINI/STAFF

Another group of Navistar workers in Springfield will be laid off Friday following a series of layoffs in September.

The new layoffs at the plant, which makes medium-duty commercial trucks and vans, will affect 30 assembly production workers, according to a bulletin sent by the UAW Local 402 union today.

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That union represents those workers affected by the layoffs and includes production workers and those with skilled trades at Navistar’s Springfield plant.

Local union officials said in the bulletin that the reason for the layoffs are “because we are over on manpower due to the elimination of second shift a few weeks ago” in several non-production departments.

They said that is what representatives of Navistar told the union’s bargaining chairman.

Representatives of Navistar did not respond to a request for comment as of early this afternoon.

Chris Blizard, the president of the local union, said layoffs at the plant are usually based on seniority. None of the workers who will be laid off this week have been with the company for more than 14 months, he added.

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The company laid off 126 assembly production workers in September due to a reduction in units produced on the plant’s main line, which makes medium-duty commercial trucks, including those for General Motors.