Laid-off Chrysler workers to stay on until late February

The nearly 1,100 Chrysler employees being laid off at the Belvidere assembly plant will get to keep their jobs until late February, about a month later than expected.

The postponement was because of a "combination of factors," said Chrysler spokeswoman Michele Tinson, including the northern Illinois plant's production needs, the company's personnel assessments and negotiations with the United Auto Workers union.

Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler LLC announced Nov. 1 it would lay off up to 12,000 workers and eliminate shifts in five North American plants. It's a bid by new majority owner Cerberus Capital Management to return the flagging automaker to profitability.

Although the Belvidere plant is eliminating its third shift, the laid-off workers could come from any shift as low-seniority workers are let go and replaced by higher-seniority employees.

First to go will be temporary workers, who have no job protection rights, and employees who transferred from other Chrysler plants and in the process lost their seniority.

More than 600 temporary and 500 transferred workers could be affected, said Tom Littlejohn, president of Local 1268 of the UAW.

The details of severance packages have not been finalized. Special retirement and early buyout packages also may be offered, Tinson said.

Littlejohn said 400 employees are eligible to retire.

Some of the temporary workers hope enough veterans take buyouts to keep them working.

"We've been told that if they do call temporaries back it'll be based on your work history," said Jay Gillyard, who moved to Rockford from Detroit two years ago. "I've been down here two years and haven't missed a day."

Gillyard, 31, left a job at Northwest Airlines because the company was in bankruptcy. Now, he's looking into yet another career: becoming a police officer.

Steven Franklin of Rockford said he also hasn't missed a day since starting in June 2005. Franklin, 61, took the Chrysler job after his 30-year-long position with another company was outsourced to Asia.

"The repetitive work (at Chrysler) was hard at first, but I got used to it," Franklin said, adding he could drive a truck using his commercial driver's license. "... But I really hope to get back in the plant. I like it there."

The Belvidere plant added the third shift in June 2006 after a $419 million retooling to equip the factory to make the Dodge Caliber, Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot.

In preparation of the layoffs, a group of local work force agencies formed a coalition to address the needs of employers and potential employees.

That group plans a career and job fair Jan. 23 in Belvidere. So far, the fair has 18 employers and three educational institutions signed up, Workforce Connection spokesman John Strandin said.

The sooner the region can absorb the unemployed workers, the less effect it will have on the community, said Kelly Galluzzo, of Growth Dimensions, an economic development group.

"We still see Chrysler as a very strong, viable company within the area," Galluzzo said. "They've done the retooling and expansion projects at the plant. Everything they said they would do. The layoffs are part of them adjusting to the market, and it's a very market-driven industry. These efforts are aimed at making them stronger."