Newsletter #374 (View other news stories)
Snorkel lays off up to 125 in Kansas
Elkwood, KS, United States
Thursday, 21 Aug 2008
 One of Snorkel's lift products. |
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Aerial work platform manufacturer Snorkel International Inc plans to cut up to 125 positions from its workforce in Kansas by the end of September. At least 325 jobs will remain.
In adjacent sites, Snorkel manufactures boom lifts in Elwood, Kansas, and scissor lifts in Wathena, Kansas.
The proposed lay-off reflects the widespread slowing of construction projects and the tendency for contractors to reduce their need for equipment.
"Snorkel employed around 350 people when Tanfield [Group plc] purchased the company in 2007, so we have created 100 jobs thanks to our investment in the business," says Dan Jenkins, media relations manager with the parent firm.
Snorkel added eight UpRight Powered Access models to its US-built range, expanded factory output and created the additional jobs. The additional models include the compact battery-powered TM12 mast lift that can move through standard doorways, the 32-inch- (80cm) wide MB2030J lift and the manoeuvrable MB2639J mast boom lift.
"Thanks to our investment, global distribution network and targeted introduction of products for the materials handling sector, Snorkel now has a better product range, much broader sales channels and is achieving far greater exports than it has for five years," Jenkins tells Forkliftaction.com News.
On June 27, hourly Snorkel employees voted to form a union. No contract has been negotiated with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. The economy―and not the vote―drove the decision to lay off workers, according to Jenkins and a union agent.
Snorkel ownership changed on 30 July 2007.
England’s Tanfield acquired Snorkel Holdings LLC and its subsidiary companies, Snorkel International Inc in the US, Snorkel Elevating Work Platforms Pty Ltd in Australia and Snorkel Elevating Work Platforms Ltd in New Zealand, for GBP48.1 million (USD97.4 million) in cash and stock.
Tanfield’s powered access division includes the Snorkel operations, SEV Group Ltd forklifts, UpRight scissor lifts, self-propelled booms and mast lifts, Aerial Access platforms, Jumbotug tractor units and Norquip airport lift vehicles.
Snorkel is Tanfield’s largest US operation and manufactures most of the firm’s aerial lift products for North America and Latin America.
Recently, a Tanfield plant in the United Kingdom completed a lay-off of 85 positions out of a workforce of about 450. The UK plant serves Europe, Scandinavia and the Middle East, and a New Zealand factory serves Australasia and parts of the Asia Pacific region
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