Harris County Employment

Kia supplier hiring to help offset loss of Cagle's jobs

The move by poultry processor Cagle’s to cut a production shift by August will cost Harris County nearly 300 jobs. But that will be offset by hiring at a couple of top Kia suppliers, a chamber official said Tuesday.

Johnson Controls already has 380 on the payroll at its plant in Northwest Harris Business Park, but they’re now adding another 175, said Lynda Dawson, president of the Harris County Chamber of Commerce.

“The reason they’re hiring this additional 175 is they have already seen the need to increase their plant size by half again,” she said.

Daehan Solution, also in the business park, is adding 150 employees to its existing work force of 300, she said.

“Both of those suppliers are reacting to Kia putting on their third shift,” Dawson said.

South Korean automaker Kia Motors has ramped up hiring at its massive mother plant in West Point, Ga., pushing employment there toward 3,000 as it adds a third model, the Kia Optima sedan, to its production line. It already makes the Kia Sorento crossover utility vehicle and the Hyundai Santa Fe SUV there.

“Yes, I hate to lose the Cagle’s jobs. But there are some on the horizon to kind of take up part of the slack if those people want to apply,” Dawson said of Johnson Controls and Daehan Solution.

Johnson makes seats and door panels for the Sorento, while Daehan manufactures sound insulation materials that include carpeting and interior foam.

“It’s all the way to the other side of the county,” Dawson said of Northwest Harris Business Park, minutes from the Kia facility. “But that’s just where the opportunities lie right now. With Johnson and Daehan both putting on about 300 to 350 employees between the two of them, that’s some opportunities we have not had before.”

The jobs being eliminated by Cagle’s are the lowest-end jobs in Harris County, Dawson conceded.

Atlanta-based Cagle’s Inc. said Monday it is eliminating the second shift at its Pine Mountain Valley plant by middle to late August, keeping one shift and expanding it to five days instead of four. The company cited a decline in sales and surging feed costs as the reason behind the cuts at the chicken deboning facility. Its work force after the layoffs will be about 340.

Reached by phone Tuesday, J. Douglas Cagle, president and chief executive officer of Cagle’s, declined to comment further about the layoffs or future operations at the Harris County poultry plant. “If you read that press release, that pretty well tells all we’re going to say about it,” he said.

Employment Law Introduction | Harris County Bar Association Blog

EMPLOYMENT LAW IN TEXAS

1.) Wrongful termination under the common law of Texas.

Unless otherwise protected by contract, government employment, or labor union membership, Texas views the relationship between an employer and an employee as arising under old English law of master and servant. Under that law, the master is free to discharge the servant at any time for any reason, including no reason at all. The law seeks to balance this doctrine by stating that employees are free to quit at any time without notice.

Upon termination in Texas, the usual remedy for the terminated worker is to file a claim for unemployment benefits with the Texas Workforce Commission. The employer is allowed an opportunity to respond. If it does not, benefits are granted. If the employer protests payment of benefits to the employee; then, the Workforce Commission schedules a telephonic evidentiary hearing.

THE VALUE OF ATTORNEY ASSISTANCE. Whether in a contract dispute, a Civil service Commission hearing, a grievance hearing, or a Texas Workforce Commission benefits hearings, a record is made. A record is the recorded testimony of witnesses and documents that are found to be relevant and are admitted into evidence in the case. Workers, employees and citizens are usually completely unskilled in matters of sifting relevant facts from irrelevant facts, identifying relevant documents and getting them accepted into evidence, objecting to bad evidence offered by the employer, and cross examining hostile witnesses. It is therefore CRITICAL that the worker seek attorney assistance before the record is made. All appeals and further proceedings will be based on the record.

2.) Texas statutes that protect employment

Texas has numerous statutes that are designed to protect the employment of workers. For instance, it is illegal to terminate an employee because he is called to jury duty or he must report for National Guard training.

The statutory protection of employment that generates the most litigation is the anti-retaliatory discharge provisions of the Texas Worker’s Compensation Act.

3.) Civil rights statutes

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Texas Human Rights Act, prohibit companies that are engaged in interstate commerce from making employment decisions based upon race, religion, national origin, gender or age (over 40).

Harris County population and employment forecasts

Population and employment projections for Harris County

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Acts passed by the General Assembly of Georgia