Factory Workers Layoffs

Colgate-Palmolive Co. said Thursday that it will cut about 2,000 jobs, or 8% of its work force, and close or alter more than two dozen factories worldwide to keep profit on track. The consumer products giant said the actions will result in a one-time after-tax charge of $243 million, or $1.81 per share, in the third quarter, producing a loss. The changes will be put into effect over the next three years, and the savings should begin to be realized in 1992, it said.

The scene is familiar throughout the sagging American manufacturing economy: A factory closes and low-wage production employees are left in the cold. That's why the angry demonstration Friday by 100 picket-waving workers a factory about to close in Chatsworth was unusual. The workers, who manufacture gardening equipment, demanded severance benefits--payments that are rarely made when a business shuts down, and even then are usually reserved for higher-paid office employees and supervisors.

The layoffs began in earnest a little more than a year ago, and when they end in late May, Weiser Lock Co. will have let go more than 1,100 workers. But thanks to what is one of the largest and most aggressive job placement campaigns in the Southland, a large number of those people will have gone from Weiser to new jobs instead of to the local unemployment office. To date, the company has posted an impressive 94% success rate in helping laid-off employees find new jobs.