COUNTYWIDE : GTE Layoffs Could Reach 100 in County

GTE California Inc. plans to lay off as many as 485 workers statewide in a move that could affect as many as 100 employees in Ventura County, company and union officials said Wednesday.

Workers received notices Tuesday warning them of a possible layoff by March 31, said Dan Smith, a spokesman for the Thousand Oaks-based GTE.

Smith said the layoffs are a cost-cutting move resulting from technological improvements that have eliminated some jobs. Among the positions affected by the layoff are cable splicers, equipment installers and telephone repair workers, Smith said.

Officials declined to identify how many of the workers are based in Ventura County until after final layoff notices are handed out at the end of March. GTE has agreed to transfer workers if there are openings.

However, Jerry Foy, a spokesman for the Communications Workers of America Local 9575, which represents about 1,600 GTE workers in Ventura County, said layoffs could affect up to 100 people.

Foy said warnings of layoffs came as early as October, when the union was told that GTE would cut 900 jobs statewide.

“It’s the largest layoff they’ve had at the headquarters,” Foy said. “A lot of (workers) are in shock.”

With about 1,200 workers at its Thousand Oaks office, GTE is one of the city’s largest non-manufacturing employers.

GTE has trimmed its work force by 39% since 1980 through attrition, early retirement and worker buyouts.

GTE’s last layoff was in 1971, when between 200 and 300 people lost their jobs, Smith said.