Staff Reporter

HAHNVILLE �“ Affects of the economic downturn plaguing the nation have reached the River Parishes as Dow Chemical of St. Charles moves to lay off “less than 100” of its 1,100 plant employees, company officials said Friday.

Dow also reported job cuts at the company’s Plaquemine plant near Baton Rouge, where 160 workers were laid off.

The Shell-Motiva refinery in Norco has been a landmark along that stretch of Airline Highway since the 1920s. A strike there was recently averted, although not out of the question as talks continue between executives and union workers. (Staff photo by Robin Shannon)

Tommy Faucheux, spokesman for the St. Charles plant, said the cuts were part of a move by Dow to eliminate approximately 11 percent of its workforce, about 5,000 jobs worldwide. Faucheux said the plan was announced in December and workers in St. Charles were notified at the beginning of last week.

“A wide range of people were let go across all 18 units in St. Charles,” Faucheux said. “It was not exclusive to one type of job or function. The company made the decisions based on needs but worked with us at a local level.”

Faucheux said everyone who was let go was given some level of severance based on age and experience.

Officials with Dow said the layoffs would produce annual savings companywide of about $700 million by 2010. There are also plans to close 20 plants, temporarily idle 180 plants and slash roughly 6,000 contractors from company payroll.

In other area industry news, contract negotiations between oil company officials and United Steelworkers continued through the weekend and into Monday as the two sides worked toward an agreement on a new work contract.

The current contract expired Sunday at 12:01 a.m., but Royal Dutch Shell, negotiating on behalf of refiners nationwide, and the union agreed to at least a 24-hour rolling extension. Talks will continue until either the two sides reach an agreement or one side terminates the existing contract.

The extension delayed a nationwide walkout of about 24,000 refinery workers. A possible strike would affect about 1,500 employees locally who work at Motiva refineries in Norco and Convent, the Shell Chemical-Norco plant and the Exxon Mobil refinery in Chalmette. Union officials were positive that a deal could be reached. They must give a one-day notice before production, lab and maintenance workers strike, should the opportunity arise.

Bloomberg News reported last week that the union is seeking a “substantial wage increase” with a cost-of-living adjustment for workers at refineries processing about two-thirds of the nation’s oil. Other issues include getting fully paid health care coverage, for workers and retirees, and health and safety improvements. The current contract started in 2002 and was extended in 2005.