Stalled auto sales pushed Pittsburgh Glass Works to announce the closing of one manufacturing facility and two assembly plants early next year, plus layoffs of 150 salaried employees across North America, the company said Monday.
A former PPG Industries Inc. business, Pittsburgh Glass Works operates a windshield manufacturing plant in Creighton, which employs nearly 200. It is not affected by the restructuring moves.
"This realignment will enable us to adapt to the changing demands of the industry," said President Jim Wiggins.
The company will close assembly plants in Newark, Del., and Cambridge, Ontario, in late 2009. It also will shut down its glass fabrication plant in Oshawa, Ontario, in the first quarter.
It said two more plant shutdowns would be identified after a business analysis is completed in January weighing capacity against projected demand, said Richard Heilman, vice president. He could not say how many salaried workers were laid off locally.
North American auto production of 15.7 million vehicles in 2007 is expected to drop to 12.8 million units this year and to about 11 million in 2009, he said.
The company has nine plants in North America, including plants in Meadville, Crawford County, and Tipton, Blair County. They are not immediately affected, said Heilman.
Pittsburgh Glass Works, which employs about 4,100 people, is 40 percent owned by PPG . It spun off 60 percent of its automotive glass-making business in October to Kohlberg & Co., a private equity firm in Mt. Kisco, N.Y.
The company is headquartered Downtown in former PPG office space. It has engineering and research operations in Harmar, also sharing PPG space. Pittsburgh Glass Works employs about 200 between the two locations.
Officials at United Steelworkers Local 12-G, which represents 180 employees at the Creighton plant, could not be reached.
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