Jockey cutting 210 in Davie

Tag : Textile Cutting

Jockey International Inc. said yesterday that it will phase outoperations at its knitting plant in Cooleemee by March 31, cutting210 jobs.
"The textile operation, built in 1988, would require substantialcapital investment to remain competitive," said Edward Emma, thecompany's president and chief operating officer.
The plant produces fabrics primarily for a Jockey plant in Jamaica.When the plant closes, the company will use U.S. yarn suppliers andCentral American fabric-makers.
Jockey, a manufacturer and marketer of apparel products, said itwill provide severance pay, benefits continuation and job-skilltraining assistance to all employees affected by the shutdown.
"All of the employees are more than welcome to apply for positionsat any location," said Mo Moorman, a company spokesman for Jockey.
Jockey's distribution center, which is next to the plant andemploys 180 people, will remain open. The center is the company'sprimary U.S. distribution center.
Jockey said that it will also close its sewing plant in Lucea,Jamaica, by the end of the year, cutting around 570 jobs there.
Marion Smith, the senior vice president of manufacturing andoperations for Jockey, said that the Lucea plant, which relies onfabric production from the Cooleemee plant, will wind down itssewing production as a result of the Cooleemee decision.
"Jockey's plants in Costa Rica and Honduras, along with Jockey'scontractors in that region, will absorb the sewing production fromthe Jamaica plant," he said.
Jockey is a supporter of the Central American Free Trade Agreement,which opponents say causes manufacturing-job losses as U.S.companies shift production to lower-cost plants in other countries.The CAFTA countries are Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, ElSalvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
In June 2005, during the debate over the passage of CAFTA, whichwent into effect in January 2006, Emma told employees at theCooleemee plant that congressional passage of the trade treaty wascritical to the company's hopes of competing against China andencouraged them to voice their support for CAFTA to theircongressional representatives.
Moorman said that CAFTA had nothing to do with the Jockey'sdecision to close its Cooleemee plant.
"It was simply a business decision based on the age of thisfacility and the resources that would have been necessary toenhance it to the level where we need it to operate," he said.
But Jim Schollaert, the owner of Made in USA Strategies inWashington, disagrees. "This is another CAFTA nail in the coffin ofour domestic knitted-apparel industry," he said.
Made in USA Strategies is a lobbying representative for thedomestic, knitted-apparel industry.
"CAFTA opened the door for foreign companies like Gildan to exploitour knitted apparel market from the low wage-, low tax- andlow-cost locations in the CAFTA countries," Schollaert said.
"Our biggest yarn companies like Parkdale and Frontier have alsogotten in bed with Gildan in the Caribbean. This is forcing otherslike Jockey to follow suit and move their jobs and production offshore."
Since Gildan bought Kentucky Derby Hosiery Co. in June 2006 to gainexpertise in sock manufacturing, it has cut more than 800 jobs inMount Airy and transferred the bulk of production to plants inHonduras.
Gildan has defended its offshore production strategy in Honduras.
Moorman said that Jockey likes CAFTA because "it encourages U.S.regional suppliers to work together to make competitive apparel inthis region."
Terry Bralley, the manager for Davie County and the chairman of theDavie County Economic Development Council, is already looking for atextile-related business to move into the knitting plant.
Bralley said he is not surprised by Jockey's announcement.
"Any time we lose even one job we are concerned about that," hesaid. "Certainly on our side in the textile and furniture business,this is an old story and there's no surprise here. Companies haveto do what they need to do to remain competitive in the worldmarket."
Bralley said that Jockey leaves behind a very skilled and dedicatedwork force that some company could put to good use.