Abbott lays off tons of of short-term staff at Westbrook plant
Abbott Labs has laid off many of the short-term staff at its Westbrook facility, together with tons of of immigrant staff who had been assembling fast COVID checks through the pandemic.
Abbott didn’t say what number of staff had been let go, however social service businesses mentioned it’s round 750 individuals.
A type of is a Congolese man named Doudou, who got here to the U.S. along with his spouse to hunt asylum.
He mentioned he and his spouse misplaced their jobs at Abbott final week with little discover. Talking Portuguese, he mentioned he’s involved about with the ability to pay hire and unsure the place to get assist.
In the meantime, Kate Fahey, with the Peer Workforce Navigator Mission, mentioned her group is one among a number of scrambling to attach displaced staff with unemployment advantages and different types of help.
“We’re struggling to fulfill the demand. And this actually, with the intention to really meet the demand, it actually must be that kind of widespread, coordinated method throughout neighborhood primarily based organizations and naturally, at the side of the Maine Division of Labor,” Fahey mentioned.
Fahey mentioned it’s particularly necessary to assist these staff who’ve been making COVID checks for the final a number of years, recognizing that they had been on the frontline of the pandemic response.
Abbott mentioned the layoffs are the results of an anticipated decline in demand for COVID testing, and that the corporate is offering affected staff with 10 days of additional pay.
This text seems via a media partnership with Maine Public.
