The last vestige of an operation started 60 years ago under the name of Western Electric will close next year.
Nokia has announced the cancellation of 187 jobs in Dublin, ending a long and winding story in which the AT & T division has undergone many changes over the last 20 years, before being bought by Alcatel and Nokia. .
At the same time, the company's expanding E. Broad Street plant employed 12,000 people.
"Nokia will leave its premises in Dublin, Ohio, at the end of 2018, a decision consistent with the company's global and regional efforts to consolidate its sites and operate from less concentrated sites," said the Finnish company. statement declaration
"The strategic move is expected to help reduce costs, improve efficiency and synergy objectives."
Nokia said union and non-union workers from various business groups are affected. Some workers may stay in downtown Ohio, the company said.
Nokia bought the French company Alcatel-Lucent a year ago.
Alcatel-Lucent announced in 2011 that it was relocating its local staff of around 600 at the time to Dublin, leaving the building on E. Broad Street in Columbus.
The total employment of Nokia and its predecessors has been declining for decades.
Ohio's central operations date back to 1957 when Western Electric, a division of AT & T, opened the plant on E. Broad Street, manufacturing telephone components for AT & T.
In 1996, AT & T created several of its technology activities and named the new company Lucent Technologies. Alcatel, a French company, bought Lucent in 2006.
The site of E. Broad Street was one of the major manufacturing centers developed in the city after the Second World War, many of which disappeared because employment in the manufacturing industry declined, said Ed Lentz, a historian . local
"In all directions of the city, we had factories," he said.
What happened with the old AT & T site is what happened with all the manufacturers, not just in Columbus, said Lentz.
"Basically, this is a long-term process that the city has been going through for a long time," he said. "I guess that implies a little nostalgia." In the long run, the Columbus economy has worked very well, in fact, it is doing pretty well and will be doing pretty well in the future.
"It's a transition in our economy ... it's one of the last recalls of what has happened in the last 30 years."
The recent layoffs were not a surprise to their workers, the company said.
"Employees have been given advance notice of site consolidation plans, and now the respective business groups are working with their teams on completed plans," the company said.
"It is expected that certain duties will no longer be necessary and, in this case, these employees may be separated with the right to severance pay according to the company's compensation plan or the collective agreement, if the employees are represented Employees, depending on the business conditions at that time, may be able to move, work remotely or work from the customer's site, depending on the particular situation. "
Of the 187 workers, up to 106 are unionized workers, according to Communications Workers of America Local 4390. The Dublin operation is still involved in telecommunications equipment and applications.
Nokia will replace workers with non-union contractors and contractors based in Plano, Texas, in June 2019, the local union said in a message from its president, Art Plas, on its Tumblr site. The message bore the title "Nokia Busting American Workers Union Jobs in Ohio".
The union disagreed with the company's claim that it would take care of departing employees.
"Nokia has not offered any opportunities for retraining or planning the transition or compensation for displaced workers," the message said.
