Layoffs at Stove Foundry
Re-Hiring Hoped in 2008
By Sara Nelson

A two-month layoff at the Vermont Castings division of CFM US Corporation, one of the area’s largest employers, began this week.

Due to a slowdown in demand for the company’s products, 39 foundry workers are scheduled to be out of work until January second, when the company hopes to re-hire them, general manager Dale Trombley said.

The layoffs have allowed CFM to collapse its workers into a single shift, rather than the usual two.

Trombley said most, but not all, of the workers have unemployment insurance. He said CFM would continue to pay 82% of the cost of employee health insurance during the layoff, and would cover the remainder for laid-off employees who can’t afford it, until they return to work and are able to pay it back.

The company produces the Vermont Castings line of cast iron stoves, as well as other cast iron products. Its foundry in Randolph normally employs about 105 full-time workers.

The company also has an enameling and assembly plant in Bethel, which employs 120 people, none of whom are being laid off at this time.

Trombley said that the reason for the layoffs was a decline in demand.

"Outside of stoves, we have seven major cast iron customers, and all of them are experiencing business declines, from 15 to 40 per cent," Trombley said.

For example, Trombley said Wal-Mart, which has traditionally been a big account for cast iron skillets, was buying a lesser quantity this year.

Trombley said stoves aren’t selling well either.

"The stove industry as a whole has had a rough year because housing stocks are depressed and people are nervous about spending the money in a shaky economy," he said.

Trombley said the company hopes to reduce a built-up inventory of stoves during the lull in production.

CFM US Corporation has plants in Indiana and Mexico, and is closing a plant in Ontario.

Trombley said layoffs haven’t been common for CFM, saying this is the first in at least 13 years.