Deseret News | ATK cuts 12% of Utah work force

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ATK cuts 12% of Utah work force

SMIC Engineer | 1:55 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

Clarification is in order: The Minuteman Missile System belongs to the Air Force, not NASA.

tough time for RIFS | 2:31 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

going right into the holiday season - nice time for a layoff. Good grief, if you know you are going to do it then do it in the spring thereby giving people a chance to find something else. No one hires in the fall and on through the holidays.

hmmmm? | 2:46 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

Wasn't it just a couple of days ago that an announcement was made that ATK just was awarded a big government contract? Shouldn't they be hiring more people? Something doesn't make sense here, could someone clarify.

Comments continue below

Same Old | 3:06 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

This is not anything new for Thiokol. Growing up it was about every 6 months and they would have a round of layoffs.

To hmmm | 3:11 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

ATK got a contract to make bullets which are made in the midwest. The local plants do solid rocket motors. Minuteman and RSRM are over so employees are expendable. They like to can the older ones. They cost more.

Torres claims his #1 priority is the employees and their families. Wrong! His number one priority is his own skin. To keep that he has to make sure ATK has a quarterly profit and employees just cost money.

it will be ok | 3:14 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

RIF people,
There is life after Thiokol. I use to work there before and after the Morton Thiokol split.
It was a great job and I loved working there, but other things are out there. OK, maybe now is not a great time to be job hunting, I agree!
Best of luck to you all!

Ema | 3:19 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

The contract you're talking about was awarded to a different division of ATK that is based in Clearfield and is for supplying ammunitions to Afghanistan. The majority of these layoffs came from the plant out in Promontory where they build the spaceshuttle boosters and missiles. These layoffs have also been in the works for months, long before that contract was awarded.

Clarification | 3:30 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

ATK has three divisions; all three divisions have some type of footprint here in Utah. The 100 plus million dollar contract was to produce ammunition for the Afghanistan army. The division that is responsible for this contract is headquartered in Clearfield. The ammunition will be made back east.

ATK ammo | 4:12 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

Ammunition facility is in Jackson County, Missouri - Independence to be exact.

Maybe it's time to find a NEW job....???

Anonymous | 4:15 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

Sign of economic recovery... Unemployment is on rise so and Wall street is "rallying" too. Stock market not anymore indicating market.

Anonymous | 4:46 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

I hate to see anyone loose a job. Employment is a lagging indicator in a recovery. Too you conservatives, lagging means it's one of the last things that improves.

There a couple of problems here. Remember how Fox News and talk radio tried to blame the liberal press for a slowing economy by arguing bad news about the economy creates fear and fear slows buying?

As a leader you walk a fine line. I believe unemployment will hit around 11%. Without action it would have reached 14%.

There more bad news for employment. Companies are going to try to stay lean, some jobs aren't returning, those over 45 will be hit much harder I believe the new equilibrium be set at lower income levels.

The wealthy play and workers pay. The last expansion of the economy was fueled by low interest and credit. Both those fuels were consumed.

The stock market is a leading indicator. It shows investor's future confidence in the economy.

Obama spending to blame | 5:09 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

Why are we still in a recession? Good question. Many economists agree that we would have been out of the recession (the longest since 83) had there not being the massive government spending by Obama and the resultant threat of new taxes on business. Sadly only 15% of the so-called stimulus was even spent for actual stimulus thus far so not only has the Obama spending NOT helped unemployment is has extended the recession as well. Had we elected a president that actually "UNERSTOOD" economics and who had either been a governor or a CEO then most likely we would have had large TAX CUTS for business which would have definitely stimulated the economy and halted the layoffs. This is exactly what Reagan did to get the economy going after the sorry Carter years.

Compassionate | 6:26 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

Its good to see "toys" of destruction" to humanity (Minuteman missiles) made redundant. Maybe now we as a people can find reputable employment that benefits mankind instead of destroying it.
Lets help out these families find work to lighten the burdens..

Former ATK Employee | 6:54 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

This layoff is the second one in 6 months. I got caught in the first round when only 350 got laid off. If Aries gets axed by the Obama administration, look for another round from ATK in April or sonner of about 1000.

just laid off today | 8:30 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

The sad thing is that ATK has pretty much announced that there will be another round of layoffs in January. This is why I never wanted to work there and I look forward to a life after ATK and I wish those that have lost there jobs the best of luck.

Anonymous | 8:30 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

"Many economists agree that we would have been out of the recession (the longest since 83) had there not being the massive government spending by Obama and the resultant threat of new taxes on business,"

Are you wrong. For you conservatives; a recession is a drop in demand. You can't study economics without studying the paradox of thrift. People and companies spend less during recessions further dropping demand. This deepens the recession workers get cut.

You sure reinforced my view of conservatives as being uneducated.

It was the government spending for WWII that ended the Great Depression.

I know not to expect a conservative to do any research. Lazy people would rather become parrots. Japan, Germany, France and China are all out of recession. China's economy will grow by 8% this year. How did these nations get out of recession?

Government stimulus spending is the answer.

Anonymous | 8:35 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

We have our government cutting a program. The result is unemployment. We have a conservative arguing cutting government spending would increase jobs. None are so blind as those that won't see.

Former ATK employee | 8:59 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

Saw this coming last year after the election.

ATK in Utah has no commercial enterprise - 100% government dependant.

Utah is too red in a blue federal congress to ever hope to win any big government contracts for the next 8 - 16 years.

Can't have your cake and eat it too.

Mumbo Jumbo | 9:17 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

I know it's nit picky, but DesNews repeated one of the euphemisms Corporate America invented to make employees who are laid off, let go, pink slipped feel the action the company is taking is less dreadful. That word is "affected," as in, "Due to circumstances beyond our control, the company is restructuring, and your job has been affected." This is instead of, "The company is reducing its workforce, and we decided you would be one of the people we lay off."

Minuteman | 10:42 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009

To clarify the comment from "Compassionate" thinking that Minuteman has been made redundant, it's still our main line of defense and is very much alive. The contract of the Propulsion Replacement Program for Minuteman came to a close. These missiles are now up-to-date and ready for use. They serve much as a deterent, rather like having a gun in your home to help protect you and your family should the need arise. Presumably "Compassionate" doesn't own a gun and will rely on his/her neighbor in times of trouble.

Beyond the recession. | 4:17 a.m. Oct. 7, 2009

It is never good news to hear about americans getting laid off of jobs but these kinds of corporations who specialize in government products are always subject to weapons changes.

However if we must have government to cut spending it does mean job losses, and it will be in large numbers. The biggest impact will be felt in the northern cities, however the taxes generated on incomes and spending will be felt state wide.

Utah is one of the few states where government is the largest employers with well paying jobs.

All the government entities are the largest employer in the state comprising of more that 25% of direct jobs and another 20%-30% of jobs dependent on government spending and purchasing. This is why government should be small and less invasive and controlling of our lives.

This puts a larger tax burden on the still working and further depressing the economy. For the state to show that Utahan's are paid well, they are now combining all incomes in a household to break the poverty income level jobs.

@anon | 8:13 a.m. Oct. 7, 2009

"lazy people become parrots"? Sure they do, but fortunately conservatives are not lazy people; they are people full of energy and thrift. They are people who study the issues of the day. the lazy people are the ones looking for handouts and waiting for the imperial federal government to take from one and give to another - more deserving than the worker. And, vwalla another vote is purchased.
BTW - We will get out of the recession when our government stops the insane spending, thus, small business owners will begin to invest in products and people once again.

Mike | 8:21 a.m. Oct. 7, 2009

Dear Anonymous | 8:30 p.m. Oct. 6, 2009. Quite trying to show how smart you are. It doesn't work. Yes spending for WWII "ended" the Great Depression. The only problem with your logic is, the Depression would have ended in the early 30's instead of the early 40's had it not been for Roosevelt's "stimulus spending".

When Conservatives talk about cutting government spending, we are talking about entitlement programs, pork, government mandates, etc. We are not talking about defense spending, or infrastructure spending. If the contracts were up, they were up. People get laid off when contracts are fulfilled. Fact of life.

Obama to Blame | 9:21 a.m. Oct. 7, 2009

Sorry, but this is true. His spending priorities are for ACORN, welfare, buyouts, cash for clunkers, etc. He spent $5 billion for ACORN! Yet he won't spend $3 billion to keep NASA and ARES 1 program on track! So much for spending trillion dollars for "jobs!" I guess the jobs he means is working for SEIU or ACORN, shaking down local governments and businesses and registering Minnie Mouse to vote.

Empathy - been there done that | 9:53 a.m. Oct. 7, 2009

I have total empathy for the ATK employees having lived through over 25 layoffs at Novell over 17 years. Those who have never been laid off or have never experienced the gut-wrenching weeks that lead up to a layoff have no idea of the pain layoffs cause. Your life is basically put on hold for the weeks leading up to the layoff and sometimes it is months. Purchases are put off, vacations canceled, and the stress of waiting and wondering if you will be on the "hit list" wears on you physically and emotionally. Today things are worse because the economy is still at a stand still with unemployment at 10% in Utah so not only do you have the stress of possibly losing your job but you have the added stress of not being able to find a new job - ANY JOB. Losing your home, defaulting on loans etc... all come into play and add to that the misery of the holidays with no money. To the corporate FAT CATS employees are just numbers on a balance sheet and they seldom if ever understand the PAIN they are causing. Better to run lean than layoff.

Reason for health care refrom | 10:00 a.m. Oct. 7, 2009

The layoffs at ATK are a prime example of the need for health care reform. For the laid off employees where will they get health care benefits for their families? Trying to purchase health ins on the open market is a joke - way too expensive especially when your income has been reduced or eliminated. There needs to be some sort of GAP insurance subsidized by the Fed Gov that covers those who are laid off giving them basic insurance that covers doctor visits and meds for a period of time (say 1 year) while they are looking for a new job.

Insurance | 10:44 a.m. Oct. 7, 2009

For insurance coverage they can "Cobra" it is expensive but will get some by until they find other work. Destroying the enter health care industry to please the far left is not a good idea.

Rod | 11:10 a.m. Oct. 7, 2009

The United States of America is very close to abandoning manned space flight. The Space Shuttle fleet is being retired and our Congress and President have failed to fund a replacement.

The United States of America once led the world in steel production, until Japan proved it could 'do-it-better.' But we didn't care. "We don't want no 'dirty' industry in this country. We'll make computers instead."

And we all know how that turned out. (I laugh when people talk about "green jobs," as if China and Japan won't take those away, too.)

Now our country has decided we don't need NASA...we don't need science, we don't need astronauts. And our children certainly don't need dreams.

Doesn't it seem odd that we tax payers can spend $50 billion to bail-out GM, $700 billion to bail-out bankers, and $800 billion to bail-out every congressman's pork project. Yet we can't come up with another $3 billion/year to keep our manned space flight program alive. NASA isn't even as important as Cash-for-Clunkers.

What? | 11:15 a.m. Oct. 7, 2009

I thought HUSSEIN said "we had turned the corner" and "we had seen the worst"?

The reality is that the stimulus did NOTHING to stimulate anything but HUSSEIN's campaign contributors.
It was just a big pay-off at tax payer expense. Just redistributing the wealth.

For he a change he is keeping a campaign promise "just spreading the wealth around".

You fools who voted for this clown--you are either socialist or stupid. No wait, if you are one then you are the other too.

Get out of this country with your marxist philosphies!!!

Where is the help from Obama? | 12:49 p.m. Oct. 7, 2009

So Obama rides in on his horse to save the day ... at least that's what many were fooled into thinking. So where IS the help for the economy that Obama promised?

Let's take a look..
1. Over 2 trillion have been spent in the stimulus and the budget but has unemployment declined? NO - IT HAS INCREASED (from 6% to 10%)! Let's see it has been about 6 months since the stimulus bill was passed so where is the money gone? Where is the actual stimulus on the economy? Why aren't businesses hiring and why do they continue to layoff? The answer is quite simple - there NEVER WAS AN ACTUAL STIMULUS bill - only a SPENDING BILL for far left liberal pork projects.
2. Obama continues to spend - now asked trillions for Obama-care and all this in a time when businesses are laying off because they are SCARED of new taxes that are coming to pay for all the spending.

the bottom line here is Obama is clueless with economics. Tax cuts for business would stimulate the economy for sure plus stop the layoffs but that isn't part of the OBama plan.

Bad B.O. | 1:32 p.m. Oct. 7, 2009

Demonrats kill jobs. Anon (4:56 pm) is wrong. With Obama the unemployment is 9.8%. Without Obama, the unemployment would be 3.21%. Nuff said.

Anonymous | 2:44 p.m. Oct. 7, 2009

I ran the numbers. The lost of this federal government program will cost Utah about $20,000,000 plus the 183,000 a week in unemployment. In this little experiment you can see the affect of cutting a government program.

@Compassionate | 3:17 p.m. Oct. 7, 2009

If it wasn't for Minuteman and all the other solid rockets Hercules/Thiokol built you might be speaking Russian. We worked on those projects with the fervent hope that they would never have to be used. Now with peace freak Obama as our fearless leader we could be in deep trouble. So all you flower children best find a place to hide. As for doing a RIF on 53 year olds that smells, and I am ashamed of Hercules.

Re.: Help @ 12:49pm | 4:19 p.m. Oct. 7, 2009

Here is where the stimulus $$$ went:
---------
Residents Get Chance At Stimulus Money
Stimulus Money Available For Low-Income, Homeless Detroit Residents

POSTED: Tuesday, October 6, 2009
UPDATED: 8:05 am EDT October 7, 2009

DETROIT -- Detroit's homeless and low-income residents have another opportunity for a chance at millions of stimulus dollars.

The money is available to help low-income residents from becoming homeless and homeless residents to find housing.

Thousands of people lined up Tuesday.

Some people in line falsely believed they were registering for $3,000 stimulus checks from the Obama Administration.

City officials told Local 4 that Detroit was granted $15 million to help residents pay bills and their rent or find temporary housing for the homeless."
--------
Well, we were warned about the redistribution of wealth!

mw | 11:14 p.m. Oct. 7, 2009

Dear Anonymous:
Please do yourself a favor and read a well written and researched book entitled, "The 5,000 Year Leap." Interesting that liberals think they are the elite and educated lot.

Thank you FDR for teaching my father the virtues of conservatism via the Great Depression. Thank you Carter (and the rest of you BIG government, educated, liberals) for teaching me some of the same virtues during the "Great Recession" (late 70's - early 80's)...and thank you all back in Washington, and in state and local governments for helping my children learn the same truths today. Speaking of stimulus - where have you SEEN the stimulus spent todate? Resurfacing projects? What is the main ingredient used? What is it made of? Where is the $ going? Face it...big government serves no one but themselves and those who line their pockets.

I loved the 18 years I worked at Thiokol...I left on my own accord...yes there is life after Promontory (or Magna)...but the government's timing stinks. Let's bailout those who never learned that there is a "right to fail" and with that right comes YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. Most you guys have it right!

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