Sen. Chuck Schumer

WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Schumer says he has reached out to the Chairman and CEO of Cummins to ensure that its workforce at the Jamestown Engine Plant is maintained in light of last week’s news that the company would be cutting as many as 2,000 jobs worldwide.

Schumer said he called CEO Tom Linebarger and urged him to do all in his power to retain the plant’s employees in Jamestown. Following the call, Schumer said he is very confident the plant has a good future and is hopeful that Cummins will do everything possible to help Jamestown withstand the global cost-cutting measures.

“I spoke directly with Cummins Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger, and I feel very confident that Cummins remains deeply committed to its workforce in Jamestown and will strive to minimize the impact of its global cost-cutting on Western New York,” said Senator Schumer. “I conveyed to Mr. Linebarger that their Jamestown Engine Plant is productive and profitable, and that Cummins must do their best to shield JEP’s world-class workers from layoffs. And he agreed that the workers there are superb, and a critical part of the Jamestown economy.”

The Jamestown facility itself is about 1 million sq. ft. and produces roughly 400 engines per day for semi-trucks, RV’s, trains, and tractors. In 2015, John Deere announced that the Cummins Jamestown Engine Plant would be the site to produce the QSX15 engine, a heavy-duty tractor engine meant for large-scale farming equipment. This represented a significant investment in both Cummins and the Jamestown Engine Plant, which Schumer says widened the scope of manufacturing in Western New York.

Cummins employs an estimated 54,000 people worldwide.