33 workers laid off at local plant

Published 1:53 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

SNOQUALMIE – The Weyerhaeuser Co. announced this week that it had laid off 33 employees from its Cascade Operations finishing plant in Snoqualmie and reduced production from three shifts to two.

The Federal Way-based company said the layoffs were necessary because of a weak market for wood and the sagging economy. Spokesman Frank Mendizabal said it’s not known when, or if, the workers would be called back.

“We don’t know how long it’s going to last,” he said.

One hundred and fifteen employees remain at the finishing plant, which does planing and drying of wood. Mendizabal said no further layoffs were expected. In its third-quarter earnings report issued Oct. 23, Weyerhaeuser had said it would curtail production.

“It’s tough times for everybody. It was a hard decision to make,” Mendizabal said, adding that the company would try to assist those who were laid off.

Workers learned of the layoffs on Sunday. Mendizabal said no other work-force reductions were expected.

Weyerhaeuser employs about 47,000 people and has operations in 17 countries around the world. Last year, the company had $16 billion in sales.