London-based manufacturer CNH Industrial plans to lay off more than 200 workers at its Racine facility and shift that work to Mexico, according to a Wednesday statement from Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
CNH Industrial is a manufacturer of agricultural equipment, including tractors and combines. This latest round of layoffs is intended to reduce costs by $150 million as part of a company-wide reorganization, according to the statement.
Representatives from CNH Industrial did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
“Agricultural machinery has been made in Racine by your workers for over 175 years—they have made Case-New Holland into the international manufacturing powerhouse it is today,” wrote Baldwin in a letter to Scott Wine, chief executive officer of CNH Industrial. “Moving production to Mexico as you are considering would not only be a slap in the face to the workers who have given so much, it would destroy the institutional knowledge that your workforce has developed over decades of building agricultural equipment.”
In January of 2023, more than 1,000 United Auto Workers (UAW) in both Racine and Burlington, Iowa who work for CNH Industrial ratified a new contract following a months-long strike. The strike began in 2022 and lasted for more than 260 days.
The new contract included wage increases, shift premium increases, classification upgrades, and other improvements, according to the UAW.
Baldwin questioned whether this latest round of layoffs was “made as retribution” following the UAW strike. She also raised concerns over the lack of notification given to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
Companies that reduce their workforce by more than 25% are required by Wisconsin law to give their workers, the DWD, their collective bargaining representatives and local officials 60 days notice.
“To my knowledge, your notification to your workers and their representatives was well short of the 60 days required by law,” wrote Baldwin.
No WARN notice had been filed with the Wisconsin DWD as of Wednesday.
CNH Industrial reported revenues of $24.7 billion in 2023, up 5% from 2022. Full year net income was reported at $2.3 million compared to $2 million in 2022.
Representatives from UAW Local 180, which represents workers in Racine, were not immediately available for comment Wednesday.
