LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Newton plant makes layoffs official. Hundreds will be out of work by the end of the year. 

A Des Moines Register investigation in 2017 found hundreds of cases of skin injuries at the plant. The Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration sued TPI for fire hazards, airborne contaminants, faulty record-keeping, falling hazards and a lack of adequate protective gear for workers. TPI settled the case for $100,000 while admitting no wrongdoing.

Credit:  Newton, Iowa wind turbine blade manufacturer laying off 710 workers | Chris Higgins | Des Moines Register | www.hawkcentral.com ~~

More than 700 workers in Newton will lose their jobs by the end of the year.

According to a notice on the state workforce development website, TPI Composites of Newton, a maker of wind blade turbines, plans to lay off 710 workers by Dec. 31. The company previously warned of a possible plant shutdown, and the notice posted Monday made the layoffs official. The notice was labeled as a “closing.” Further information was not immediately available Monday.

The Des Moines Register previously reported that TPI has supplied wind turbine blades to General Electric. Executives made the warning about the layoffs as contract negotiations with GE were continuing last month. The company had a contact for GE to continue buying blades through the end of the year. TPI warned of not having any business lined up for next year and blamed various economic factors, such as the increased cost of raw materials and debate in Congress about tax credits for wind energy providers, leading to an anticipated suspension at the facility at the end of 2021.

Newton Mayor Mike Hansen and TPI did not return messages for comment by late Tuesday afternoon.

TPI is one of the major employers for the city of about 15,800 people in Jasper County, east of Des Moines. The company opened its factory a year after Maytag, the longtime key employer for Newton, shut down its local facilities in 2008 after being purchased by Whirlpool.

Arcosa Wind Towers in Newton announced in August that it would also lay off workers, with 82 employees expected to be affected by Tuesday. The company blamed market demand for wind towers.

TPI also closed a plant in Newton in 2020. The company produced parts for electric buses and shuttered the facility after investing in robots at a similar factory in Rhode Island, the Register previously reported. In a statement at the time, the company said that its wind blade facility could hire all of the bus factory’s 150 employees.

A Des Moines Register investigation in 2017 found hundreds of cases of skin injuries at the plant. The Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration sued TPI for fire hazards, airborne contaminants, faulty record-keeping, falling hazards and a lack of adequate protective gear for workers. TPI settled the case for $100,000 while admitting no wrongdoing.

The company settled the case for $100,000 and admitted no wrongdoing.

In its most recent quarterly report, TPI reported that its operations lost $5.2 million in the first six months of this year, compared to a loss of $28.7 million during the same period last year.

In 2019, before the pandemic began, the company reported that its operations earned $15.9 million, before taxes and debt payments.

Grassley responds

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said Wednesday he plans to send a letter to President Joe Biden to encourage him to get involved.

“President Biden’s made campaign promises of adding over 10 million green energy jobs,” Grassley told reporters. “He even said that workers in the fossil fuel industry would have new opportunities in clean energy when he shuts down fossil fuels. Yet in Iowa, people who already work in the clean energy sector … are getting pink slips.”

Grassley said he knows there’s little room for presidents and politicians to get involved in private contract negotiations, but he wants Biden to look into it.

He said he also plans to lobby the CEO of General Electric if he could.

“I’m going to at least plead with him to see about what can be done to maintain those jobs,” he said. “… I’ll bet in the decades I’ve been in the United States Senate, and I don’t know whether it’s five times or 15 times, but I’ll bet I’ve had General Electric people in my office. And I listen to them. They ought to listen to me in this instance. I’m involved in this because I care about Iowa families having good paying jobs like in Newton.”

Register reporters Tyler Jett and Brianne Pfannenstiel contributed to this report.

Source:  Newton, Iowa wind turbine blade manufacturer laying off 710 workers | Chris Higgins | Des Moines Register | www.hawkcentral.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon