Jobs hang in the balance in Lawton

LAWTON, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – More West Michigan jobs hang in the balance in the Van Buren County town of Lawton.

Welch's has a huge operation in Lawton, which is the heartbeat of the tiny village, and employs a lot of people who live there.

On Wednesday the company broke the news to employees that it's reviewing the operations of all its plants. That has people concerned that their jobs may be in jeopardy, and it's not only factory workers that a shutdown or mass layoff would affect.

Employees tell Newschannel 3 that the Welch's plant in Lawton grows more efficient every year, and they claim the plant just finished one of its most efficient and profitable years ever. But Welch's says it is losing money in Lawton, and change is needed.

Welch's in Lawton means grapes across southwest Michigan, grapes like the ones Bill Schultz has spent his life growing.

“We grow over 250 acres of fruits and vegetables, about 120 acres of grapes,” said Schultz. “About 110 acres of our grapes go to Welch's.”

But Schultz is only one of the farmers who depends on Welch's.

“Welch's takes in 80 plus thousand tons of grapes on an annual basis, so there's 10,000 plus acres of grapes in southwest Michigan that are grown for Welch's,” said Schultz.

Now, the future for Welch's in Lawton is uncertain. The corporation is going through a five-year-restructuring plan, which may include significant downsizing of the roughly 300 employees who work at the Lawton plant.

Welch's says that “to achieve critical efficiencies, Welch's is discussing and negotiating various options to restructure our manufacturing plants with our union. Until these negotiations are complete, specific impact to our employees and ultimately the communities in which we manufacture our product is unknown.”

Schultz says that if Welch's closes, it would be devastating for grape farmers.

“There's a lot of operations that, that's their main crop,” said Schultz. “If they were to lose their main source of income they would probably go out of business I would think.”

Lawton's village president says that Welch's has assured him that the plant won't close. He says Welch's will continue to bring in the same tonnage of grapes, but will scale back production in Lawton. Employees Newschannel 3 spoke to after a private company meeting say that means 50 to 70 percent of workers at the Lawton plant will lose their jobs within three years.

Welch's has not confirmed how many employees will lose their jobs, but reliable sources say severance packages and buy-outs are being negotiated.