Titan lays off 50 at Illinois farm tyre plant

Freeport, Illinois -- Titan International Inc. has laid off 50 workers at its Freeport agricultural tyre plant, adding to 21 redundancies at the site since the end of July.

Titan chief executive and chairman Maurice Taylor confirmed the cutbacks at the plant, which the company bought from Goodyear at the end of 2005.

The United Steelworkers union, which represents more than 700 hourly workers in Freeport, said the layoffs were tied to a reduction in Goodyear´s purchase of all-terrain vehicle tyres and mixed rubber stock at the factory.

Titan, however, said it planned to expand operations in Freeport, especially due to added capacity from the company's recent purchase of the former Continental Tire North America Inc. plant in Bryan, Ohio.

Taylor previously said that some speciality tyres manufactured in specific plants could be produced elsewhere.

Taylor believed sales would rise in Freeport and there was a possibility laid-off workers could be called back.

From Rubber & Plastics News (A Crain publication)