[Vision2020] MPC lays off another 210 employees, effective 5 Nov 2008

[Kenneth Marcy]

http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/561482.html

November 05, 2008

MPC lays off another 210 employees, effective Wednesday

MPC Corp. has laid off another 210 employees from its Nampa facility, 
effective today, said Bob Fick, an Idaho Department of Labor spokesman.

The company filed a special notice with the state in advance those employees 
seeking unemployment insurance payments.

According to David Kojima, a systems administrator at MPC for 13 years, there 
was no severance pay.

“We were paid for time worked and half our holiday pay,” he said. He said some 
IT workers were retained and estimated 100 employees still work at MPC.

Workers were given the news at a meeting Wednesday morning, and escorted out 
immediately after. Kojima and other laid-off workers met at the Woodshed Bar 
and Grill at 817 E Karcher Road in Nampa, for what sounded very much like a 
party.

According to some the news comes as a relief after weeks of dealing with very 
angry customers.

"People have been calling for weeks, and we couldn't do anything for the last 
3-4 weeks. We've been getting yelled at instead of solving problems," said 
Ryan Mason. "Some of the supervisors were understanding and let us take 
breaks between calls so we weren’t just getting screamed at for eight 
straight hours."

Mason worked for MPC for five years. He says he thinks some of the workers 
will qualify for federal training money and he is hoping to take advantage of 
that.

This is the second time Sue Harris has been laid off recently. She started 
work at MPC in January after being cut at Zilog.

Harris said she saw employees from every department from sales to production 
leave with their belongings in tow.

“I imagine I’ll go to the Labor Department next week,” she said. “I just hope 
I don’t have to put up a for sale sign on my house.”

On Wednesday the Labor Department announced that it would extend unemployment 
office hours through Dec. 18 in Boise, Meridian and Caldwell.

“The department has a wide array of programs and services to help these 
workers collect the benefit checks they are eligible for and find new jobs 
that will get them back to work. But with the number of people needing 
assistance increasing so rapidly, the normal workday just isn’t long enough,” 
Department of Labor Director Roger B. Madsen said.

The offices will remain open until 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The normal 
closing time is 5 p.m.

Earlier this week, the MPC disclosed that contract manufacturer Flextronics 
Computing in Juarez, Mexico will no longer do work for MPC because the 
company had failed to "meet our obligations."

MPC announced Oct. 16 that it had laid off 200 workers at its plants in Nampa 
and North Sioux City, S.D.

The company has also been notified by the NYSE Alternext - formerly the 
American Stock Exchange - that the exchange intends to remove MPC's stock by 
filing a delisting application with federal securities regulators.

The company has lost nearly $31.5 million in the past three quarters. A 
spokesman said Friday that MPC is in a "critical situation."

Calls to the company have not been returned.