Posted on 08/24/2014 3:35:29 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
ILION — Herkimer County officials vowed to help affected Remington Arms employees Monday afternoon as news spread the gun manufacturer will layoff more than 100 of its employees by the end of the week.
Herkimer County Legislature Chairman Vincent Bono said he learned about the 105 layoffs through county Administrator James Wallace and then from Karin Zipko of Herkimer County Working Solutions.
“We're gearing up our programs that are offered, including retraining and job searches,” said Bono, R-Schuyler, during a telephone interview Monday. “It's unclear whether some will be called back. That's unknown.”
“It's unfortunate,” added Bono about the layoffs, which will be effective Friday.
Assemblyman Marc Butler, R-Newport, said he spoke with Remington officials earlier in the day about the impending layoffs.
“The latest announcement from Remington Arms, although not unexpected, is still deeply disappointing for our community,” said Butler in a statement on Monday. “This is more than 100 of our friends, neighbors and relatives whose families now face an uncertain future. Our thoughts are with them.”
In May, it was announced Remington Arms would be restructuring and that it would affect the Ilion facility.
“Remington told us a few months ago they would be making changes in their workforce for a variety of reasons,” said Butler during a telephone interview Monday. “They're attributing this to general business conditions. I continue to believe that one of the lines is the Bushmaster line, which is one of the lines affected under the provisions of [Gov. Andrew] Cuomo's SAFE Act.”
The New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013, commonly known as the SAFE Act, is a gun control law, passed in the state Legislature in January 2013, in response to the Newtown, Connecticut, shooting massacre about a month earlier. One of the provisions, according to Butler, is that it makes it illegal to sell Bushmasters in the state, which is one of Remington's production lines.
Also, in February, Remington announced it would build a new facility in Alabama, where there are more lenient gun laws. The new facility is expected to employ up to 2,000 people.
A Remington Arms official couldn't be reached for comment Monday afternoon.
“I believe it's our task to reorganize ourselves, to get together and do what we can to ensure their presence here,” said Butler. “There's a lot of pessimism and negativity about Remington's future here. I'm not ready to throw in the towel. They recognize they have an excellent workforce here and that this is their home. This is a major disappointment, but this isn't the end of the story. We need to work together on a local, state and federal level.”
“My first emotion is deep sadness for the community, especially the affected employees who are hardworking, upstanding citizens,” said Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney, R-New Hartford, in a news release. “Remington Arms has been an anchor in this community for nearly 200 years. New York is home to Remington and Remington's families. I will work hard with anyone to help those affected and Remington through this difficult process. My office doors are always open.”
Tenney, like Butler, blamed the move on the SAFE Act.
“We cannot forget what has pushed Remington to this point — the so-called SAFE Act, and the horrendous business climate in New York. Ill-conceived anti-firearms policies shoved through without due consideration like Cuomo's SAFE Act cost jobs. The SAFE Act should be repealed before it does any more damage to our businesses, communities and freedoms,” she said.
Tenney said in a news release she is the sponsor of legislation in the Assembly to fully repeal the SAFE Act.
“The Empire State was built by the men and women like those who lost their jobs today and the politicians in Albany are too busy worrying about their own jobs to care about those of Remington families,” she said. “It makes me angry that this day has come.”
Thank to the beedy eyed son of sfachime who arrogantly passed his bill in the dead of night like most rats do
The fact that Remington’s product quality has taken a nosedive in recent years might have something to do with it.
DemocRats suck.
Maybe moving things to Alabama will change that. Hard to say.
So when like a 1000 ISIS terrorists are able surround a mall in New York because of our wide open borders and start executing customers like what happened in Kenya, at least New Yorker can feel safe knowing the SAFE act has insured they will die quickly without any resistance while the armed bodyguard protected politicians who passed this BS won’t have that worry.
Move to Tennessee we love guns & gun manufacturing, lots of hunters! We need the jobs.
I wish ISIS would try something in Texas.
I don’t.
They’d be slaughtered like sheep in a pen. Maybe not the first time, but every time thereafter. Tell me you don’t carry.
My biggest fear—a Kenyan type mall massacre or a Beslan.
Muslims here are playing with fire if anything like that happens in America.
“Excellent workforce” is trumped by stupid gun-control laws”
The NEW New York, ready foe business /sacr.
“Maybe not the first time, but every time thereafter. “
As I stood in my living room watching the Twin Trade Towers fall I thought something along the lines of, “you know, as awful as this is, the silver lining is terrorism has struck hard enough that people won’t forget. We’ll be a more armed more diligent, alert people after this.” Well, I was wrong. The media started right away with the meme that this was just one tiny group. It couldn’t happen again. We’re in no danger from Islam, just criminals, etc.
I think that if they hit a mall and killed lots of people that if nothing happened again for five years that the media would have the sheep all calmed down and maybe even more gun legislation would be passed to “prevent it from occurring again.”
...ready for business, /sarc.
I’m still waking up, sorry.
This is what people don’t realize is that liberals are putting them in danger. They insist on open borders, even rewarding those who sneak into the country and at the same time removing the defense of the citizen. It’s not just terrorists, it’s gangs, even just your everyday average killer. When liberals call illegals “undocumented workers” I like to call them “undocumented killers” because they could be killers just as much as workers. How would they know they are workers? None of them are checked out!
Cuomo, the commie, is doing everything he can to prepare New York to be an example police state for others to copy.
There hasn’t been an administration this corrupt and power hungry since the days of Butcher Bill and Tammany Hall.
No country on earth does what we do regarding illegal immigration.
It is national suicide.
of course; the D’Rats, shall blame GWB/TEA Party..for any deaths, then.
That doesn't help, and neither does the dismal track record of post-DuPont Remington designs.
But even if it had been otherwise, it wouldn't matter. Shortly after Remington - well, at least the most recent entity that has the legal rights to bits and pieces of previous "Remingtons" that were actually on the ball - figured out that they couldn't continue to make it by only selling cheapened Fudd guns to aging Fudds, the really big chunks in NY Democratdom realized that they could count on enough safe votes elsewhere that they could finally bend IIlion (and any others who got bucky) over the sawhorses and screw 'em good.
Earlier this year, Remington metaphorically filed papers for divorce from the abusive jackass, and has started to move her things out of the old house. Hope she manages to keep some of the assets.
Mr. niteowl77
Thank you, NYS.
NY ping
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