BorgWarner planning to lay off 30 employees at Lansing facility

BorgWarner, the auto parts manufacturer, is planning to lay off 30 staff at their facility in the town of Lansing before the end of the year, union representatives said Wednesday, Dec. 5. 

That would add to a tally of layoffs of around 50 that started in October, said John Cometti, a business agent for the Teamsters Local 317, which represents the more than 700 workers at BorgWarner. The layoffs come after workers struck for a new contract in the summer. 

The company informed workers and union officials of the layoffs in the last week of November, arguing that a grisly financial reality and future forecast for the industry was driving the firings — particularly, Cometti said, the low sales of hybrid vehicle components manufactured at BorgWarner for Stellantis. Stellantis, a car maker headquartered in the Netherlands, manages a portfolio of 14 brands, including Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati and Ram trucks. 

A CNBC report from October showed that Stellantis’ sales during the third quarter fell almost 20% from the third quarter of 2023. They also showed a decrease of about 12% from the second quarter of 2024.

Stellantis was expected to be the worst sales performer of major automakers during the third quarter, the report states. Auto industry forecaster Cox Automotive had projected a sales decline of roughly 21% for Stellantis, CNBC reported.

“I think they’re reacting quicker than they should be,” Cometti said. “We tried to keep workers until after the holidays, but when you look at the auto industry as a whole, you can see what’s happening to Stellantis and General Motors … and they’re not getting the return on their investment.”

Michelle Collins, the company’s global director of marketing and public relations, confirmed that the 30 layoffs are due to “decreases in customer orders and [are] done in compliance with the collective bargaining agreement that was ratified between BorgWarner and Teamsters Local 317 in September 2024.” 

“Impacted employees will receive benefits continuation for a defined period under the collective bargaining agreement,” Collins said.

Cometti said that he felt some of the layoffs felt like retaliation for the strike and the ensuing new contract. He said he did not want to speculate further, but he noted that he feels the company holds animosity toward workers. 

The union filed four different claims of unfair labor practices against BorgWarner with federal regulators from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) back in October. The broad accusations include:

• Refusal to bargain or bargaining in bad faith
• Disciplining staff in a discriminatory way motivated by anti-union sentiments
• Utilizing interfering, restraining or coercive tactics against union employees, including surveillance of union employees
  

Collins did not respond to requests for comment on allegations of retaliatory layoffs from Tompkins Weekly by the time of publication. 

Cometti said that the company did not want to offer buyouts to workers. Laid-off workers will have some access to their healthcare plan post-layoff, depending on their seniority, ranging from two to six months of access. The BorgWarner representative did not respond to questions regarding potential aid to laid-off workers.  

For Cometti, the layoffs are confusing. He said he understands the financial losses carmakers have suffered, but the company could have likely kept employees on the payroll until after the holidays at the very least. Cometti noted that during meetings, the company sent mixed, dissonant messages.

“I think that when you have a meeting and you are unsure of what your needs are … some of the departments are saying they need to work 24/7,” he said. “Then, you have plant managers saying, ‘These are the reductions we need to meet declining sales. …’ That is where you start to think, ‘Well, I think they jumped the gun before Christmas.’”

Workers struck in late summer, seeking better working conditions as part of a new collective bargaining agreement. On Sept. 20, The Ithaca Voice reported that workers voted 539-60 in favor of a new contract with the company. The agreement changed a practice that subjected more recently hired workers to mandatory overtime. Both sides also bargained to retroactively provide workers with benefits shut off during the strike.

Lansing at Large appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com. Contact Eddie Velazquez at edvel37@gmail.com or on X (formerly Twitter): @ezvelazquez.