TRW, one of the world\'s largest makers of auto parts, employed as many as 340 people in Winona earlier this year, said Rob McKenzie, an international representative for the United Auto Workers.
"Half of the (recent layoffs) are as a result of the downturn in the domestic auto industry," McKenzie said. "The other half are going to Reynosa, Mexico, because of cost.
"We\'re afraid they\'re all going to go."
That concern brought people together Monday for a news conference by Ben Hovell, president of UAW Local 958, which represents the TRW workers, and a town hall meeting hosted by state Senator Sharon Erickson Ropes, DFL-Winona.
At the meeting, participants discussed the effects of the layoffs on the community and the factors – such as unfair trade agreements – that contribute to the movement of jobs overseas.
Job opportunities are not plentiful in Winona, nor can laidoff workers easily find other employment with the good wages and benefits provided under their union contract at TRW.
"This is generating a lot of concern," said McKenzie.
In a news release issued before Monday\'s meeting, local labor leaders said the TRW layoffs should cause lawmakers like U.S. Senator Norm Coleman and candidates such as Republican Brian Davis to re-evaluate their support for free trade.
"Here is just one more example of how the Bush-McCain-Coleman-Davis Free Trade policy comes back to bite working families right here in Southeast Minnesota," said Russell Hess, financial-secretary of the Southeast Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO.
Some 40,000 jobs have been lost in Minnesota in recent years due to unfair trade, according to the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition.
Many of those workers qualify for federal Trade Adjustment Assistance to help them survive and find other employment. But TAA is not a solution, said Laura Askelin, president of the Southeast Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO.
"While that may temporarily help keep families afloat, ask any worker what they would rather have, TAA or their job, and I bet most would choose their job."
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TRW, one of the world\’s largest makers of auto parts, employed as many as 340 people in Winona earlier this year, said Rob McKenzie, an international representative for the United Auto Workers.
"Half of the (recent layoffs) are as a result of the downturn in the domestic auto industry," McKenzie said. "The other half are going to Reynosa, Mexico, because of cost.
"We\’re afraid they\’re all going to go."
That concern brought people together Monday for a news conference by Ben Hovell, president of UAW Local 958, which represents the TRW workers, and a town hall meeting hosted by state Senator Sharon Erickson Ropes, DFL-Winona.
At the meeting, participants discussed the effects of the layoffs on the community and the factors – such as unfair trade agreements – that contribute to the movement of jobs overseas.
Job opportunities are not plentiful in Winona, nor can laidoff workers easily find other employment with the good wages and benefits provided under their union contract at TRW.
"This is generating a lot of concern," said McKenzie.
In a news release issued before Monday\’s meeting, local labor leaders said the TRW layoffs should cause lawmakers like U.S. Senator Norm Coleman and candidates such as Republican Brian Davis to re-evaluate their support for free trade.
"Here is just one more example of how the Bush-McCain-Coleman-Davis Free Trade policy comes back to bite working families right here in Southeast Minnesota," said Russell Hess, financial-secretary of the Southeast Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO.
Some 40,000 jobs have been lost in Minnesota in recent years due to unfair trade, according to the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition.
Many of those workers qualify for federal Trade Adjustment Assistance to help them survive and find other employment. But TAA is not a solution, said Laura Askelin, president of the Southeast Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO.
"While that may temporarily help keep families afloat, ask any worker what they would rather have, TAA or their job, and I bet most would choose their job."