Published: November 25, 2009 10:13 pm      

Gamesa laying off local plant workers

EBENSBURG — Gamesa USA is reducing employment levels at its Cambria Township fiber blade plant by more than half, the result of the global financial crisis that has stalled many planned wind farm projects, company officials said Wednesday.

Of the 141 people being laid off, 79 will be furloughed temporarily.

Up to 62 employees will be offered voluntary buyouts or permanent jobs in other parts of the company’s business, spokesman Michael Peck said.

There are 238 workers at the plant who are members of the United Steelworkers of America bargaining unit.

Company officials were unable to estimate when any of the furloughed employees will be brought back.

“A year ago, Gamesa had 1,250 employees in Pennsylvania, and we were sold out (of blades) until 2011,” Peck said.

Everything changed when the banks stopped lending money. Demand for power slumped and power companies stopped purchasing power agreements, he said.

“We’re sort of in a perfect storm,” Peck said. “The economy is beginning to make its mark.”

Wind-generating companies that proposed to build wind farms using Gamesa’s blades are delaying those plans. That is resulting in reduced demand at the plant outside Ebensburg.

The layoffs are a sign that it is time for the federal government to step up with some of the renewable energy initiatives it has been promising, said Denny Conahan, president of Steelworkers Local 2635.

“They need to free up some money to gets these projects moving. This (wind) is definitely renewable energy,” he said.

Employees knew orders at the plant were slowing, so the furloughs did not come as a complete surprise, Conahan said.

The facility will be idle during December, which has been planned since July as part of a work force restructuring and plant retooling, Gamesa’s Kurt Knaus said. A skeleton crew of 14 employees will work through the month on company wind projects that will continue into 2010, he said.

The employee buyout package, developed with help from the union, provides 16 weeks of wages, unemployment and payment for unused vacation and other earned leave.

Gamesa also is offering 20 temporary jobs in an effort to keep employees working as long as projects at the plant continue, officials said.

The Spain-based wind turbine maker opened its Cambria Township facility in 2006 and has been working through much of 2009 on changes to the facility that will allow for production of larger blades.

The new blades are designed to allow slower operation, which should result in less impact on bats and birds.

Gamesa’s Fairless Hills factory in eastern Pennsylvania is not affected, officials said.