Sikorsky to Lay Off Nearly 400 Workers at Military Completion Center

June 3, 2011 by Jenelle Tortorella wetmtv.com

Big Flats, N.Y. – According to a “90-day warn notice” filed with the New York State Department of Labor, 386 employees will be out of a job come August at the Sikorsky Military Completion Center in Big Flats.

That means these positions will be eliminated in roughly 3 months.

While this is a devastating blow to the employees, area businesses are also reeling.

“[Sikorsky employees are] huge for lunch business, and they’d come shopping here after work too. That was a lot of good paying jobs for this area; it’s tough,” said Paul Minier, the store manager at Minier Brothers, Inc.

“That quantity, to go all at once, it was kind of surprising to see that happen,” said Mark Cavaluzzi, the owner of Charley’s Grilled Subs. “On a daily basis, day and night shift workers are consistently coming in. If those numbers decrease drastically, it will make a difference. They’re a pretty good chunk of our customers on a daily basis.”

“It’s huge. That’s a big part of our clientele. It’s going to hurt, immediately,” Minier said.

Dan Porter, the Executive Director for CSS Workforce New York said 62 of the layoffs will be salaried; 324 will be union.

The number of jobs cut came as a surprise to many.

“We were aware there was a possibility of a layoff, but we didn’t know the magnitude of it. Anytime there’s a layoff it’s certainly very hard, especially in these economic times for people to be laid off,” said Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli.

Sikorsky officials are blaming the layoffs on a lack of aircraft orders. Local Sikorsky workers make several types of helicopters, such as the black hawk and unmanned fire scouts.

Although nearly 400 people are going to be given pink slips, the company maintains it will continue to invest in the local military completions center.

Sikorsky officials declined to tell us how many employees will remain at the big flats facility after the layoffs.