(Radio Iowa) – Whirlpool announced today (Tuesday) it is laying off 650 people at its Amana facility in eastern Iowa on June 1st. Iowa Federation of Labor president Charlie Wishman says state and federal leaders are part of the reason for the layoffs.  “Rural manufacturing is dying all over the place, and especially in this state, and we need to save it,” he says. “These policies, from both the presidential administration as well as the governor’s administration, they aren’t helping.”

A spokesperson from Whirlpool says the layoffs are a necessary measure to meet a drop in demand for some of the appliances made in Amana, particularly refrigerators. Wishman says recently announced tariffs and state legislation cutting unemployment benefits will hurt people impacted by the layoffs.  “In a town like Amana, this is truly going to devastate that community. And when a company like Whirlpool is making 17 billion dollars in sales last year, that’s nothing compared to what the residents in that area are going to be facing,” Wishman says.

The Whirlpool layoffs amount to roughly one third of its workforce. A spokesperson for Iowa Workforce Development says they have already begun coordinating a response to the Whirlpool announcement through their Rapid Response team. I-W-D will schedule worker information meetings to provide impacted workers with resources, including available services on how to file for unemployment and to find their next job. I-W-D will also use the IowaWORKS Mobile Workforce Center to provide reemployment services in Amana as quickly as possible.