Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Hargrove / The Economy Lebanon May Sue Dell for Moving Jobs to Nashville, Breaking Agreement
Posted by Brantley Hargrove on Tue, Jun 9, 2009 at 11:20 AM
Back in 2000 Lebanon and Wilson County each agreed to a 40-year property tax break on the condition that the computer manufacturer provide 1,000 local jobs. Dell is estimated to have saved millions with this generous bit of corporate welfare.
City and county officials now believe the Round Rock, Tex.-based company may have broken a written and verbal agreement by shifting hundreds of jobs to the plant in Nashville, leaving the Lebanon facility with an estimated 500 workers. The message from city hall and the county is clear: Return the workers to the Lebanon facility or refund the tax breaks.
Dell, like many large corporations, has been trimming its workforce, cutting nearly 10,000 jobs during the fiscal year ending in January.
Comments (2)
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The agreement said Dell had to have 1,000 employees on Jan. 1 to qualify for the breaks. So when did their lay-offs begin?
Half of the 1,000 were relocated to Nashville Feb. 2.
Also, Dell was allowed to shore-up their numbers with temps. In other words, Dell might have only employed 500 or 600. The balance of the 1,000 were from a temp agency, but still counted towards the magic number. Those folks weren't just relocated, they were out the door.
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I don't think they maintain up to 1,000 employees, either. However, general government contract has a headcount based on hours. That means, they can maintain only 500 employees and have them work double to reach 1,000-employee regular hours. It depends on how Dell's contract with the government is.
