More than 100 workers were laid off from an Ormet Corp. plant in Monroe County on Tuesday and officials said more cuts could be coming.

Ormet filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification -- commonly called a WARN notice -- in July that stated about 1,000 jobs could be cut by the end of this year.

Yesterday, 102 workers were laid off from the company's Primary Aluminum Reduction Plant in Hannibal.

Bob Griffiths, a forklift truck driver who's worked at the plant for nearly 33 years, said he's definitely worried about his job future.

"There's a reason this is happening. It can all be pointed to Washington," Griffiths said.

United Steelworkers Local 5724 President Tom Byers said Ormet has done everything by the book and notified workers of the layoffs 60 days in advance. But, Byers said this could just be the first round of job cuts.


Ormet Chief Executive Officer Mike Tanchuk said the layoffs are devastating and are mostly due to increasing American Electric Power costs. Tanchuk also cited lower worldwide aluminum prices as part of the problem, but said those prices have started to come back around.

Steve Tennant, who has worked at Ormet for 43 years, said while he's not concerned about his own position at the plant, he fears for his coworkers.


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