Longaberger layoffs could impact election [View All]

[UpInArms]

http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/news/stories/20040711/localnews/824052.html

COLUMBUS -- Longaberger's top executives are major financial backers of Republican candidates, but their decision to lay off hundreds of workers could impact President Bush's chances to win Ohio.

Unlike some companies with recent layoff announcements in the Democrat-leaning Cleveland and Canton areas, Longaberger draws workers primarily from Republican- dominated Licking, Muskingum and Coshocton counties. The company announced this week it could lay off up to 970 employees in September.

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"Whether it's due to the bad economy or the product line -- whatever it's due to, it becomes another piece of information for citizens that all is not well for the economy," he said, noting the news adds to recent reports of manufacturing job losses in Canton and Avon Lake.

"When you start getting multiple situations like that, you start thinking the economy is not as good as the people in Washington are claiming."

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