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140 workers to lose jobs at Eden carpet mill

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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

(Updated Thursday, December 17 - 12:21 am)

By Morgan Josey Glover
Staff Writer

EDEN — Layoffs this week at the 81-year-old Karastan carpet and rug maker will shrink its work force by half.

Georgia-based Mohawk Industries , which owns Karastan, will lay off about 140 people over the next few days, leaving about 130 workers at the mill, said Anthony Coles, district manager of the employees’ union, Workers United .

Coles said the union negotiated severance packages averaging $4,000 to $5,000 per employee in addition to temporary health coverage and other benefits.

Mohawk Industries attributed the job cuts to the sluggish economy.

The company said in a statement that it will work over the next several months to put in place its new business plan and to assist employees who lose their jobs.

“This plan will not impact quality or fashion in the products we deliver,” Darin Quesinberry , Mohawk’s Eden plant manager, said in the statement. “I am proud of the people at Eden. ... Reductions in force are always painful, and my thoughts are with the men and women from our facility who will go through outplacement as a result of this change.”

Coles said workers became aware of potential layoffs last week.

“I think they knew that it could happen, that things were slowing down and it became financially difficult for the company,” Coles said.

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 627-4881, Ext. 119, or morgan.josey@news-record.com

Accompanying Photos

Morgan Josey Glover

Photo Caption: The Karastan carpet and rug mill in Eden.

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ravencottage

December 16, 2009 - 6:53 pm EST

Just out of curiosity I would like to know how much the Workers United union contributed to the Obama campaign and how many of the 140 workers voted for Obama in 2008.

HotRodLincoln

December 17, 2009 - 2:48 am EST

Considering Rockingham County is 80% Republican it would be safe to say that about 112 of them voted for George Bush twice. Now, brew you some tea (Republican cool aid), kick back on the couch, watch some Sean Hannity and read a few paragraphs from Going Rouge.

Packfan4life

December 17, 2009 - 5:36 am EST

Yes let's keep blaming Bush . The cold hard truth is that these jobs have been leaving since the day that Bill Clinton signed Nafta into law . Companies can't compete with what is really slave labor in China and South America . Then when you figure in the amount of taxes and the cost of meeting all of the government regulations here versus overseas , the cost of doing business becomes even greater . The labor Unions make it harder as well . You can sit here and take ignorant cheap shots at Hannity and Palin , but at the end of the day Comrad Obama and the Demorats want you to remain blind to the truth . That is that both parties have made errors that have destroyed the U.S. economy along with all of us that allowed our elected leaders to do business with countries that exploit it's people for the purpose of making these Communist Governments rich . Reagan and Kennedy would never have allowed this to happen . Our Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves right now!

Cemetery

December 17, 2009 - 10:07 am EST

HRL...I couldn't have said it better myself. I love how the economy is everyone's fault but the Republicans. *sigh* After 8 years of the Bush Regime, it's interesting how Repubs like to ignore those years & focus only on Clinton's years in office or Obama's one year in office. Wow.

rayzer

December 17, 2009 - 11:52 am EST

Obama took a deficit and quadrupled it, spending $$$ on a so-called stimulus bill that resulted in the LOSS of millions of jobs. Bush had a great economy for 6 of 8 years until energy prices and the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac messes - both Democrat induced (can't drill for oil, forced loans to high risk borrowers). This is Obama's mess. It is clear who the Kool Aid drinkers are here.

trf7897

December 18, 2009 - 11:05 pm EST

I worked for this company a few years ago, and I'm still in this business. This has nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with the economy and their products. There is so much supply out there right now and demand is just not keeping up. Whether rugs our coming from overseas suppliers or American manufacturers, we've got rugs coming out of our ears. I've actually seen more foreign suppliers go out of business over the last couple years than American suppliers. Nonetheless, it's sad to see this happen.