Elected officials are reacting with concern to the news of Sumitomo Rubber USA’s decision to close its Town of Tonawanda tire plant, a move that will lay off more than 1,500 workers.
“The decision to close this facility is a devastating and outrageous loss to 1,550 hard-working people, to the Town of Tonawanda, and to our region’s entire economy,” said Rep. Tim Kennedy, D-Buffalo.
“After investing over $100 million, which increased production by fifty percent, the company is shutting down its only tire production facility in the U.S. Our community has manufactured tires at this facility for over a hundred years, and we have developed one of the highest-quality workforces to do so. I will continue to fight for the skilled and dedicated individuals in our region, who deserve good-paying jobs right here in Western New York,” Kennedy said.
State officials were also unhappy.
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“The abrupt closure of Sumitomo Rubber’s Tonawanda plant is devastating to our regional workforce and economy, including, of course, the town’s tax base,” said Assembly Member Bill Conrad, D-Town of Tonawanda. “Western New York cannot absorb the loss of 1,550 employees, many of whom are skilled laborers of the United Steelworkers.”
A fence company installs fencing around the employee parking lot at the Sumitomo Rubber factory in the Town of Tonawanda, which announced it was closing, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024.
Conrad in a statement Thursday blasted the company for blindsiding plant workers with the announcement and refusing to consider any options besides shuttering the plant.
“In my discussions thus far with union leadership, it is clear this announcement came without warning,” Conrad said. “As recently as 2022, we were celebrating Sumitomo’s $129 million investment in the Tonawanda plant with the company’s promise that it was expanding its production capacity. To hear today that the plant is facing ‘mounting financial losses’ was shocking.”
He also condemned the timing of the news.
“With 1,200 loyal union workers on site in Tonawanda, it is appalling to me that Sumitomo refused to entertain negotiations that could have presented alternatives to an immediate shuttering of this facility just four weeks ahead of the holiday season,” Conrad said.
State Sen. Sean Ryan, the Buffalo Democrat whose district includes the complex on Sheridan Drive, said he will work with United Steelworkers Union Local 135 and the state Department of Labor to make sure everything possible is done for the employees who are losing their jobs.
Ryan said in a statement that he worries about the effect of the closing of the century-old tire plant and Donald Trump’s election as president on the region’s manufacturing base.
The entrance is already fenced off at the Sumitomo Rubber factory in the Town of Tonawanda, which announced it was closing, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024.
He also pointed to the CHIPS and Science Act, which helped bring a Micron Technology chipmaking plant to upstate New York and has been targeted by Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
“The coming tariffs that President-elect Trump plans to implement will devastate New York’s economy, causing prices to spike and inflicting untold damage,” Ryan said. “Combine that with Speaker Johnson’s pledge to repeal the Chips and Science Act, and I am very concerned about what’s to come and the impact it will have on New York manufacturing and jobs.”
