Invista lays off contractors

Due to a slowdown related to the devastation caused by hurricanes Gustav and Ike, about 70 contractors at Invista’s Waynesboro plant have been laid off, with no firm date for a possible return.
Invista spokeswoman Erica Taylor confirmed that the company has called for the “temporary curtailment” of the contractors from The Mundy Companies, a contracting firm based in Houston. That, she said, is because the supply of raw materials from Invista’s three Texas companies, used to make the nylon products at the Waynesboro plant, has dropped off, meaning “a curtailment of production at our facilities.”
The three plants had closed following the hurricanes, but Taylor said two of them have since come back online.
“We’re still producing product, but we’re producing less product because we’re receiving less raw material,” Taylor said, declining to comment on the amount of production being affected because of Invista’s privately-held status.
She said the company expects the contractors to return once the supply line of raw materials has been fully restored.
“There’s no specific timeframe [for their return],” Taylor said, “but we expect it to be temporary until we can receive our raw materials.”
The slowdown, according to Taylor, is so that the company can “stretch out” its raw materials until it receives its regular supply. She said some of Invista’s other Gulf Coast suppliers also were affected, prompting the layoffs.
“We are taking back some of those roles temporarily and filling them with Invista employees,” Taylor said.
Union and Mundy officials were not immediately available to comment.
Vice Mayor Frank Lucente, who along with Mayor Tim Williams and Councilman Bruce Allen received the endorsement of The United Workers Local 381 of the International Brotherhood of DuPont Workers in Waynesboro, said he was troubled by the news, even if it is a short-term move. He expects the city’s unemployment rate – which stood at a 13-year record high of 6.1 percent in July – to increase.
“I always have concerns when people lose their jobs, temporarily or permanently. … If it’s temporary, it’s good,” Lucente said.
Invista is Waynesboro’s largest employer with 1,100 workers. The plant normally has about 500 contract workers.