Yokohama Tire Corporation has furloughed some of its employees at its West Point manufacturing plant until further notice, according to an internal email from the company obtained by The Dispatch Wednesday evening.
The furlough came days after the plant reopened on April 27 following a month-long shutdown.
The company currently employs roughly 700 at its West Point plant, The Dispatch previously reported. Plant representatives would not disclose to The Dispatch Thursday how many employees have been furloughed.
Addressing its furloughed employees in a Wednesday email, the company cited the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and stated its operations were “disrupted significantly,” which prompted a change in its operations schedule.
The email, a copy of which The Dispatch obtained from an employee who wished to remain anonymous out of job security concerns, also says it is unclear how long the furlough would last.
“You are hereby notified that you have been placed on furlough status until such time that production requirements warrant a need for your return,” the email read.
The company also encouraged furloughed employees to seek unemployment benefits and said the email could be used as proof of employment at Yokohama.
In a Thursday statement to The Dispatch, the company confirmed there has been “short-term interruptions in scheduled employee hours” due to the pandemic.
“The temporary changes will not affect Yokohama’s ability to meet the high rate of customer demand in the market,” the statement added.
The anonymous furloughed employee, who works as a machine operator, told The Dispatch he received the notice by text, phone call and email two hours prior to his Wednesday night shift.
“It’s kind of disheartening,” the employee told The Dispatch. “I’m disappointed.”
The company will scale back its production from seven 12-hour days to five 8-hour days a week, the employee said. Maintenance and shipping were told to resume normal hours of operations, he said.
Yokohama also sent him a bill Thursday morning and asked him to pay the company almost $300 a month during the furlough to stay on its insurance plan, according to the bill he presented to The Dispatch.
The payment for May, which was usually deducted from his paycheck, is due June 15, his wife said.
“We absolutely depend on this insurance as we have a disabled child,” the wife said. “If it needs to be paid, we need to make arrangements to pay it today or they will drop it if it is not paid.”
The employee said Wednesday it is likely he will pursue another job in the near future.
“I’m not just going to sit and wait on it,” he said.
Yue Stella Yu was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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Related Photos
Yokohama notified its employees of the furlough via email, one furloughed employee told The Dispatch. "You are hereby notified that you have been placed on furlough status until such time that production requirements warrant a need for your return," the email read. Photo by: Image courtesy of Yokohama employee
