HARLINGEN— Auto parts maker Cardone Industries is laying off 183 workers from its Brownsville facility on Paredes Line Road due to business fall-off from the coronavirus and a decision to re-allocate work to other plants.
Brownsville is a sorting facility for brake calipers made in Matamoros, and it is believed the layoffs are due to work being moved to Philadelphia, where Cardone is headquartered.
No similar layoffs are planned for the company’s Harlingen warehouse. Cardone also employs 3,000 workers in Matamoros.
The layoffs in Brownsville started April 27 and will continue through the end of August, the San Antonio Business Journal reported.
Cardone attributed the layoffs to “dramatic, sudden and unforeseeable negative business circumstances the company is suffering due to (the) COVID-19 pandemic” in its notice to the Texas Workforce Commission, the business journal said.
Philadelphia-based Cardone furloughed or laid off 680 employees in and around that city three weeks ago. That amounted to more than half of the company’s Philadelphia workforce.
Cardone manufactures after-market auto parts, particularly refurbished brakes, at its Mexico and U.S. operations. It also has facilities in Canada.
A Cardone spokesperson did not return emails seeking comment Monday.
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www.inquirer.com/business/cardone-auto-philly-furlough-labor-cuts-autos-20200416.html
