Employee layoffs at Kraus Carpets, Strudex Fibres temporary: firm
More than 200 unionized employees at sister manufacturing firms Kraus Carpets and Strudex Fibres in Waterloo have received layoff notices.
Headquartered on Northfield Drive West, the Kraus Group of Companies also includes two flooring distribution companies.
“A temporary layoff notice has been issued to employees at our plant in Waterloo,” said a statement from president and chief executive officer Shawn Davies. “This notice was issued due to market conditions, takes effect as of September 7, 2018, and has been communicated to the relevant employees. Our sales offices, distribution and other facilities are open and continue to operate as usual.”
Davies added the company has nothing further to announce, but would notify employees and make a further public statement “if it was warranted.” A total of 210 unionized employees based at the large Northfield Drive complex received notices.
Waterloo Mayor Dave Jaworsky went to the plant Friday morning and spoke to several affected workers through a chain-link fence. “I’m really hopeful for the employees,” he said. “It certainly is a grim day for them.”
Jaworsky said the seven or so employees he spoke to have between 17 and 43 years of service with the company.
“They’re all dedicated, hardworking and skilled workers, and I think they will do well into the future,” he said.
“The people at Kraus Carpets are beyond loyal, they have decades of experience each ... They are ready to work, they want to work.”
For years a family business, founded in 1959 by Michael Kraus, the Kraus Group has faced challenges in the past. Hit hard by the global recession in the late 2000s, it went deep into debt and was acquired in 2012 by Hilco, a U.K.-based firm that specializes in restructuring businesses in financial distress.
Unionized workers also agreed to wage and vacation concessions in order to help keep the plant open. Jaworsky noted those concessions in speaking of the employees’ loyalty.
“It is like a family to them when they go into work each day,” he said.