Innio Waukesha Gas Engines plans to cut up to 120 hourly jobs at the Waukesha plant it acquired from GE in November 2018.
The job cuts, which will start on Dec. 31, are part of a partial business closing at the facility at 1101 W. St. Paul Ave., according to a notice sent to state officials.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO District 10 represent hourly employees at the plant. The company said it will reduce the number of represented workers “from 153 to a significantly smaller number.”
“The individual employees to be affected by job eliminations and the precise numbers affected are currenly unknown and will be contingent on ongoing business considerations and negotiations,” the company told state officials, estimating 75 to 120 jobs would be cut.
Positions potentially include 68 machine operators, 52 assemblers, 13 people in support service roles, 10 people in utility roles, eight inspectors, a parts coordinator and a dispatcher.
Innio and its parent company Advent International, bought the former Dresser Engine from GE last year. In March, the company announced it had extended its collective bargaining agreement with the union until February 2020.
Employees at the plant are no strangers to job uncertainty. When GE owned the business, the company decided in 2015 to build a $265 million factory in Canada. Citing uncertainty at the time over the U.S. Export-Import Bank, GE said it would shift 350 jobs to the new facility.
When GE announced the sale of the business to Advent in June 2018, GE announced it would close the facility, eliminating 236 jobs.
The contract extension earlier this year delayed the potential closure.
“The agreement delays the closure and allows Innio to continue meeting our customers’ challenges while continuing its two-facility production capabilities,” a spokesman told BizTimes in September when the company announced a new CEO. “With our durable and reliable gas compression and power generation solutions running on a broad range of gas qualities and meeting low emission standards, INNIO Waukesha is well-positioned for continued success and sustainable future growth in this competitive global environment.”
